Additional State Pension for Widows and Widowers in Wales: What You Can Inherit

When a spouse or civil partner dies, their State Pension stops. But not all of it necessarily disappears. Depending on when your partner was born, what they paid in National Insurance contributions, and when you married, you may be entitled to inherit some or all of their Additional State Pension — a benefit that can add hundreds of pounds per year to your income for the rest of your life.

Most surviving spouses in Wales never ask about this. The DWP does not proactively calculate and pay the inherited amount — you have to prompt them. Understanding what you might be owed, and how to claim it, is the purpose of this guide.

Two State Pension Systems: Old and New

There are two distinct State Pension systems, and which applies depends entirely on when your partner reached State Pension age:

• The old system (basic State Pension + Additional State Pension): Men born before 6 April 1951, and women born before 6 April 1953
• The new State Pension system: Men born on or after 6 April 1951, and women born on or after 6 April 1953

The rules for inheriting State Pension entitlement are completely different under each system.

Inheriting Under the Old System

If your partner spent most of their working life under the old State Pension system — which applied to anyone who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 — there are multiple elements you may be able to inherit.

Basic State Pension

If you are also entitled to a basic State Pension but your own entitlement falls short of the full basic State Pension (£176.45 per week in 2026/27), you may be able to top it up to the full rate using your deceased spouse's NI record. This is particularly relevant if you took time out of the workforce to raise children or care for a relative.

Additional State Pension (SERPS / S2P)

The Additional State Pension is the earnings-related component that workers built up on top of the basic State Pension during their working life. It has been known by different names at different times:

• Graduated Retirement Benefit (GRB): For NI contributions between 1961 and 1975
• State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS): For contributions from 1978 to 2002
• State Second Pension (S2P): From 2002 to 2016

All three can potentially be inherited by a surviving spouse. The maximum inheritable proportion of SERPS and S2P depends on when your partner was born:

These percentages represent the maximum. The actual amount you receive also depends on how much Additional State Pension your partner had built up.

Graduated Retirement Benefit (contributions before 1975) can be inherited in full by a surviving spouse.

How the Inheritance Interacts with Your Own Pension

There is a cap: the total of your own Additional State Pension plus the inherited portion cannot exceed the maximum Additional State Pension for a single person in that year. If your own Additional State Pension is already at or above the maximum, you will not receive an inherited amount on top.

Inheriting Under the New State Pension System

If your partner reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 — meaning they were on the new flat-rate State Pension — the inheritance rules are much more restrictive.

Under the new system, you can only inherit from your partner's State Pension if they had a protected payment — an additional amount on top of the flat-rate pension that represents rights they built up under the old system before April 2016.

What is a protected payment? When the new State Pension launched in 2016, people with more pension entitlement under the old rules than the new flat rate were given a "protected payment" — the excess is preserved and paid on top of the flat rate. If your partner had a protected payment, you can inherit half of it.

If your partner's new State Pension was simply the standard flat rate (£221.20 per week in 2026/27, or whatever the full rate was in their year of retirement) with no protected payment, there is nothing additional to inherit.

The April 2016 marriage condition: Under the new system, you can only inherit a protected payment if your marriage or civil partnership began before 6 April 2016. Partners who married after this date cannot inherit a protected payment.

What to Do If You Think You Have an Inherited Pension Entitlement

The DWP does not automatically calculate and award inherited State Pension entitlement when a spouse dies — you need to prompt them.

Step 1: When you notify the DWP of the death (through Tell Us Once, or directly by calling the pension service), ask specifically: "Can you check whether I am entitled to inherit any of my spouse's State Pension or Additional State Pension?"

Step 2: The DWP Pension Centre will check your partner's NI record and calculate whether you have any inherited entitlement. This may take several weeks.

Step 3: If you are awarded inherited Additional State Pension, it will be added to your regular State Pension payments going forward. It is not paid as a lump sum for previous years — it applies from the date the claim is processed (though there may be some arrears for the period since the death).

Step 4: If you are not satisfied with the DWP's calculation, or if you believe they have failed to consider inherited Additional State Pension, you can request a formal written explanation and, if necessary, a mandatory reconsideration.

If Your Spouse Had Deferred Their State Pension

A person who delays claiming their State Pension builds up an enhanced entitlement (the pension grows by 1% for every 9 weeks of deferral under the new system). If your spouse deferred their State Pension and died before claiming it, you may be entitled to a lump sum representing the deferred period — or you may be able to inherit the enhanced pension rather than the lump sum. The DWP Pension Centre will advise which option applies.

The Interaction with Bereavement Support Payment

Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) is only available to those under State Pension age. If you have already reached State Pension age, you cannot claim BSP regardless of your relationship or your partner's NI record.

For those over State Pension age, the relevant financial support is:

1. Inherited State Pension (as described above)
2. Pension Credit — if your total income (including State Pension and any occupational pensions) falls below the minimum guarantee level (£218.15 per week for a single person in 2026/27), you may be entitled to Pension Credit, which tops up income to that level and passports you into a range of other benefits

Don't Miss What You Are Owed

The inherited Additional State Pension is not a trivial amount. For a survivor whose partner built up a significant SERPS record through 30-plus years of employment, the inherited element can add £50 to £150 per week to retirement income — a cumulative sum of tens of thousands of pounds over a typical retirement.

Unlike time-limited claims such as Bereavement Support Payment (12 months) or industrial disease compensation (12 months), inherited State Pension can be claimed at any time. But there is an important practical reason to claim immediately: the DWP does not backdate payments to the date of death unless you claim promptly. The sooner you notify them and request the entitlement check, the sooner payments begin.

The Wales Survivor Benefits Navigator covers the full spectrum of State Pension inheritance rules alongside occupational pension claims, DWP benefit applications, and the probate and property administration that runs in parallel — helping surviving spouses in Wales capture every entitlement they have earned.

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