My husband died a year after retiring — will I inherit his state pension?

I’M A 65-year-old widow, retired for six years and living on my private pension and savings. I was caught out by the rapid rise in women’s state pension age. My husband died two years ago, aged 66.

He had paid towards his state pension all his working life and received it for just one year.

I have never had to rely on benefits, thankfully. However, I wonder if I could be entitled to any of my husband’s state pension, more so as he received so little back.

S. S., Southwick, West Sussex.

This is an excellent question which i am sure will interest many who read this column. The short answer is that some people can inherit state pension. Generally, the older you are, the more generous the arrangement.

This isn’t because the Government is being kind to the very old, but rather because widows’ benefits have been cut time and again. in the most extreme cases, the widow of someone who dies in their late 80s could inherit more than £200 per week state pension, whereas one whose partner dies in their late 60s could receive nothing.

Let’s start with your case. When the new state pension was launched on April 6, 2016, widows’ benefits were slashed to minimal amounts. The top rate of new pension was £155.65 per week at launch. however, additional pensions accumulated under the old system — such as graduated pension, serps and state second Pension — meant some people could receive more.

Anything above the new state pension is known as ‘protected pension’, and widows can inherit half of this excess. so, if someone started with a pension of £165.65, their partner could inherit half of the £10 excess — a measly £5 a week.

The new state pension is now £179.60 per week, so someone hitting state pension age today would have to be entitled to more than this for there to be anything to inherit. i am afraid your husband did not have any protected payment, so there is nothing for you to inherit.

Different rules apply to those who were already drawing their pensions under the old regime on April 5, 2016.

for men born before April 6, 1951, and women born before April 6, 1953, their partner’s pension could be increased to as much as the full amount of the old state pension when they die. This could give someone with no state pension a maximum of £137.60 per week, depending on their deceased partner’s national insurance contribution record.

This will generally benefit women, as men from this era are more likely to have a full ni record.

They can also benefit from their partner’s additional pensions — these may be a maximum additional of £181.31 per week.

half of the serps built up by men born on or before october 5, 1945, and women born on or before July 5, 1950, can be inherited.

This gradually increases with earlier birth dates, hitting 100pc for men born before october 6, 1937, and women born before october 6, 1942.

it is also possible to inherit up to 50 pc of graduated pension, which ran from 1961 to 1975.

older women especially should be aware of these rules, as any inheritance could give a vital boost to a widow’s pension.

MY WIFE and I made an investment of £2,500 with Fidelity for our godson, who was born in 2001. His parents later separated, but we are still in contact with both.

They had to be the first and second named applicants, as we are not related. Now both deny any knowledge of the investment and I am struggling to get a response from Fidelity.

M. R., Hailsham.

Although your request was simple, it did throw up issues with the General Data Protection regulation. you were not able to give fidelity permission to speak to me because the account belongs to your godson.

however, fidelity did speak with you directly to confirm that the account exists and arrange for your godson to be reunited with your generous gift.

you invested in fidelity’s Managed international fund, which is now called Global focus. every £1,000 invested at launch would now be worth almost £6,500 if the income was reinvested, according to Morningstar.

This shows the power of longterm investing.

LAST year, you very kindly sorted out an ongoing dispute I have had with HMRC since 2017.

It had muddled me with another employee at the doctors’ surgery where I work, attempting to take too much tax. This problem recurred at the beginning of this year. This time, HMRC is trying to take £2,232 in additional tax.

I have written twice to HMRC without reply. I have also phoned without success.

A. H., Horsham. i remember your case well. your employee number was mixed up with that of a higher-paid colleague, something which hmrc told you could not happen.

hmrc has contacted you to apologise that the same error has occurred again, and paid you £100 compensation.

it has now decided you are actually due a tax refund, which will be sent once it is calculated.