NHS Pension

What to Do When an NHS Pensioner Dies: A Checklist

FP FrontlinePay Editorial

Updated 19 October 2026

Independent guidance — not affiliated with NHS England or DHSC

This guide is for the family, partner or executor of someone who drew an NHS pension and has died. We are sorry for your loss. There is a lot to do and little of it is urgent in the first hours, so this page puts the steps in order, says which need doing soon and which can wait, and explains what NHS Pensions asks of you. It follows NHSBSA's published guidance and gov.uk's guide to what to do after a death.

Short answer

Register the death, then use Tell Us Once. gov.uk says Tell Us Once reports a death to most government organisations in one go, including NHS Pensions for NHS staff in England and Wales, and NHSBSA says that if you use it you do not need to contact NHS Pensions separately. If you did not use it, contact NHS Pensions with the person's membership number or National Insurance number. The pension is paid up to the date of death and then stops, and any payment made after it must be repaid, which NHS Pensions recovers from the bank. A spouse, civil partner or qualifying partner has to apply for any survivor's pension, and a lump sum may be due.

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Within 5 days

Of the medical examiner's confirmation, in England and Wales (8 days in Scotland), says gov.uk

Tell Us Once

28 days

Use the service within 28 days of getting your reference number

Payments after death

Repaid

NHSBSA asks the bank to return any payment made after the death

The checklist, in order

Register the death

gov.uk says the doctor confirms the death and contacts a medical examiner, who checks the cause. You must wait for the medical examiner's office to confirm that you can register, then register within 5 days of that confirmation in England and Wales (8 days in Scotland). That includes weekends and bank holidays. You get a certificate for burial or cremation, the "green form", to give to the funeral director. If a coroner is involved the documents may differ and an interim death certificate can be used to start work.

Use Tell Us Once

The registrar explains it and either completes it with you or gives you a unique reference number to use online or by phone. You must use the service within 28 days of getting the number. gov.uk says you can use it if the person lived in England, Scotland or Wales, and cannot if they lived in Northern Ireland or permanently abroad.

You will need the person's National Insurance number if they were getting money from or paying into NHS Pensions, and the name, address and contact details of whoever is dealing with the estate. gov.uk says Tell Us Once also contacts some public sector pension schemes so that they cancel future pension payments, and lists NHS Pensions for NHS staff in England and Wales and the Scottish Public Pension Agency for NHS staff in Scotland.

Check NHS Pensions has been told, or tell it yourself

If you used Tell Us Once, NHSBSA says you do not need to contact it. If you did not, contact NHS Pensions confirming the person's membership number or National Insurance number. NHSBSA's bereavement page says to call 0300 330 1346 (or +44 191 283 8918 from outside the UK) between 8am and 6pm for help with reporting a death, pensions or benefits, or to use its online service. The pensioner line, email address and postal address are on our how to contact NHS Pensions page.

Leave the pension payments alone and note any that arrive

NHSBSA says no one is entitled to the pension payments made after the death, and any overpayment must be repaid. Do not spend money that arrives after the death without checking with NHS Pensions. If the pension was paid into a joint account, tell the other account holder.

Expect NHS Pensions to write

NHSBSA says it will tell the next of kin or personal representative about any overpayment returned, whether any NHS Pension is left and whether any other payment is due. It sends the application form to anyone who may be entitled to a survivor's pension, for example a spouse.

Claim any survivor's pension or lump sum

A surviving spouse, civil partner or qualifying Scheme partner must apply. NHS Pensions sends the claim form. Children's pensions and a lump sum on death benefit are claimed on the same dependant form. Details are in the next sections.

Deal with the rest of the estate

Tell the person's bank, mortgage provider, insurers and any private or workplace pensions that Tell Us Once does not cover. gov.uk says to contact those providers as soon as possible if the person was getting payments, to avoid having to make repayments.

What to have ready

✓ The person's National Insurance number and their NHS Pensions membership number, the eight digit number at the top of NHS Pensions letters. NHSBSA's knowledge base says either number is enough to identify the person, and the Survivors guide asks you to quote both where you can
✓ The death certificate. NHSBSA accepts only originals or certified copies, copies them and returns them. Photocopies are not accepted
✓ Your own details and your relationship to the person: spouse, civil partner, partner, child, executor or other
✓ For a surviving spouse or civil partner: the marriage or civil partnership certificate and your birth certificate
✓ For an unmarried partner: documents showing two years of living together and financial interdependence. See our unmarried partner's survivor pension guide
✓ For a lump sum with no spouse or partner: sight of a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration if it is £5,000 or more. NHSBSA says do not send these with the claim form: it writes if it needs them
✓ Details of the bank or building society account to be paid into, if you are claiming

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What happens to payments after a death

NHSBSA is clear about the principle. The pension is paid up to and including the date of death, no one is entitled to payments made after it, and any overpayment must be repaid. NHS Pensions must stop the payment as soon as possible to avoid an overpayment.

If a payment goes out after the death: NHSBSA says it asks the bank or building society to return it. NHS Pensions says it will approach the bank directly, and that a letter is only sent to the person in charge of the finances to advise them of the error, to minimise inconvenience at a difficult time. If the bank cannot resolve it directly, it contacts the person controlling the account.
What the family is told: about the overpayment returned, whether any NHS Pension is left, and whether any other payment is due.
Joint accounts: if the pension was paid into a joint account, the other account holder must be told that any overpayment will be returned.
The estate: NHSBSA says it can provide pension payment and tax deduction details to help administer the estate.

For how NHS Pensions handles overpayments in general, including repaying and payment plans, see our overpayment and underpayment letters guide.

Claims the family may be able to make

✓ Adult dependant's pension for a spouse, civil partner or qualifying Scheme partner. They must apply, and NHS Pensions sends the form. Rates depend on the section: 50% of the member's pension in payment for the 1995 Section, 37.5% for the 2008 Section and 33.75% for the 2015 Scheme, from the Survivors guide
✓ Children's pension for eligible children, claimed on the dependant claim form. NHSBSA says it is paid to the person who has the care of the child or the child's own bank account. Eligibility depends on the section and the child's age and circumstances
✓ Lump sum on death benefit, which may be payable if the pensioner dies within five years of retiring, depending on what they have already received. NHSBSA says it is not payable if they received the pension for five years or more, and the Survivors guide has separate rules, including tax charges, for deaths after 75
✓ Pension Credit lump sum, where the person was a Pension Credit member: NHSBSA says it cannot pay until it confirms the personal representative, and the claim uses form AW11PC

The lump sum must be paid within two years of NHS Pensions first being told of the death, otherwise it is subject to an HMRC tax charge of up to 45%, which NHS Pensions has no discretion over. That is a reason to report the death promptly even if the claim takes time. The lump sum goes to the spouse, civil partner or qualifying Scheme partner unless there is a valid nomination, and otherwise to the estate. Our guides on death benefits and the tax treatment of the death grant cover the rest.

Documents NHS Pensions accepts

NHSBSA's Survivors guide lists the certificates it asks for, depending on the claim, and says that only an original or certified copy of a certificate can be accepted. They are copied and returned immediately. Replacements can be ordered from the General Register Office (gro.gov.uk), or from the register office for the district where the event was registered.

The member's death certificate
Marriage or civil partnership certificate, and the surviving spouse or civil partner's birth certificate
Children's birth certificates
Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, where required
Decree absolute or dissolution of civil partnership certificate, where relevant
Birth certificate of a nominated or non-nominated partner
Change of name deed, power of attorney or Court of Protection order, where relevant

Tax and the estate

gov.uk says that after Tell Us Once, HMRC and DWP will contact you about the tax, benefits and entitlements of the person who has died. If you cannot use the service, gov.uk says to call HMRC's Bereavement Helpline, or if you cannot call, to fill in form P1000 to tell HMRC who is dealing with the estate. NHS Pensions can give you the pension payment and tax deduction figures.

If the final NHS pension payments were over-taxed, that is dealt with through HMRC, as in our guide to being taxed wrongly on NHS pension payments. A lump sum on death paid to a nominee or qualifying partner may be included in an Inheritance Tax assessment, which NHSBSA says is HMRC's responsibility. See NHS pension and Inheritance Tax.

Other situations

The person was still working in the NHS. NHSBSA says to contact their NHS employer, who arranges the claim forms.
The person had a deferred pension, not yet in payment. The form to claim death benefits for a deferred member is on the NHSBSA website, and you contact NHS Pensions with the membership and National Insurance numbers.
The person had returned to NHS work after retiring. NHSBSA lists a factsheet for 1995 Section death on re-employment on its pensioner hub, so say so when you contact NHS Pensions.
The State Pension. Tell Us Once tells DWP. If you cannot use it, gov.uk gives the DWP Bereavement Service on 0800 151 2012, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, or the International Pension Centre if the person lived abroad.
Support for you. gov.uk has a bereavement help and support section, and NHSBSA links to the NHS "Get help after bereavement or loss" page.

ℹUnmarried partners and children

If the person had an unmarried partner or dependent children, the partner test and the rules on children's pensions are set out in the Survivors guide. Our guide on the unmarried partner's survivor pension covers the partner rules and the evidence NHS Pensions asks for.

Unmarried Partner's NHS Survivor Pension

Who qualifies and what evidence NHS Pensions asks for.

NHS Pension Death Benefits Explained

The general picture of lump sums and survivor pensions.

NHS Pension Death Grant: Tax Treatment

How lump sums and survivor pensions are taxed.

How to Contact NHS Pensions

Phone, email and postal address.

NHS Pension Overpayment and Underpayment Letters

What happens with a payment made after a death.

NHS Pension and Inheritance Tax

How the lump sum can be treated for Inheritance Tax.

Sources and how we checked

✓ gov.uk, What to do after someone dies: registering, Tell Us Once, who it notifies, 5 and 28 day limits, HMRC and DWP contacts
✓ NHSBSA, Bereavement (pensioner hub) and What must I do if an NHS Pension Scheme member has died?
✓ NHS Pensions Survivors guide (V12A, April 2024): payments after death, documents, claims, lump sum rules, tax details for the estate
✓ NHSBSA, Why might an NHS Pension be overpaid?: bank refund, next of kin letters
✓ The Survivors guide is dated April 2024, so check the current version on the NHSBSA website. Phone numbers are those NHSBSA publishes on its bereavement page and our contact page
✓ Independent guidance, not legal advice, and not affiliated with NHS Pensions or DWP

Frequently asked questions

Who do I tell when someone who draws an NHS pension dies? +

Use Tell Us Once if you can, which gov.uk says reports a death to most government organisations in one go and also contacts NHS Pensions for NHS staff in England and Wales. NHSBSA says that if you have used Tell Us Once you do not need to contact it separately for the pension. If you did not use it, contact NHS Pensions quoting the person's membership number or National Insurance number.

How quickly should I tell NHS Pensions? +

As soon as you reasonably can. NHSBSA says it must stop the payment as soon as possible to avoid an overpayment, and the Survivors guide says it is essential that the Scheme is notified as quickly as possible so it can work out whether benefits are due. The pension is paid up to the date of death and nothing after.

Will the pension payment made after the death have to be paid back? +

Yes. NHSBSA says no one is entitled to the payments made after the death and that any overpayment must be repaid. It asks the bank or building society to return the money, and it tells the next of kin or personal representative what was returned, whether any pension is left and whether any other payment is due. If the account is joint, the other account holder must be told.

Does a spouse or partner automatically get a pension? +

No, they have to apply. NHSBSA says a surviving spouse, civil partner or qualifying Scheme partner of a pensioner member who is eligible for an adult dependant's pension must apply, and that NHS Pensions sends an application form once it knows of the death. Unmarried partners must also meet the Scheme's partner test. See our guide on the unmarried partner's survivor pension.

Is there a lump sum when an NHS pensioner dies? +

Sometimes. NHSBSA says a lump sum on death benefit may be paid if a member dies within five years of retirement, depending on what has been paid already, and that it is not payable if they have received their pension for five years or more. The Survivors guide has separate rules for members who die after 75, so ask NHS Pensions. If one is due, it must be paid within two years of the death first being notified or an HMRC tax charge of up to 45% applies. A Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration is normally needed for £5,000 or more where there is no spouse, partner or nomination.

Where do I get an NHS pension death claim form? +

NHSBSA's bereavements page links to the dependant claim form, used to claim an adult dependant's pension and a children's pension, and to form AW11PC for a Pension Credit lump sum. Where the person had died while an active member, the employer arranges the forms. In many cases NHS Pensions sends the right form after you report the death.

Can NHS Pensions give me the tax details I need for the estate? +

Yes. The Survivors guide says NHS Pensions can provide pension payment and tax deduction details if required, to help administer the estate. Ask for them when you contact NHS Pensions. HMRC and DWP also contact you about the person's tax and benefits after Tell Us Once.

What if the person lived abroad when they died? +

gov.uk says Tell Us Once cannot be used if the person was living abroad permanently when they died, so you tell each organisation yourself. Contact NHS Pensions directly using the numbers on our contact page, including the overseas numbers for pensioners, and for the State Pension gov.uk says to contact the International Pension Centre.

Budget day, 28 October: what it means for your NHS Pension

We'll email you on the day with what was announced and what it means for NHS Pension members. You also get the free PDF now.

Free. Independent, not affiliated with the NHS. Every email has an unsubscribe link. See our privacy policy.