Here’s something a lot of people don’t know: your Will doesn’t decide who gets your pension. Most pensions are discretionary trusts, and the trustees decide who receives the death benefit when you die, guided by a separate document called an expression of wish, or nomination, form. It’s held by the pension provider, not by us and not with your Will.
These forms go stale easily — a nomination from your first job at 26, an ex-partner still listed after a divorce, a new child never added. If you have several pension pots, each has its own form.
From 6 April 2027, unused pension funds also come into the scope of Inheritance Tax, so the nomination and your tax position now need to be looked at together. List every pot, request each form in writing, keep copies, and tell your executors where they are.
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Six short reads each week on tax, Wills, family wealth and running a business, from John Ireland. Since 1996, three decades of protecting families.