Death benefits | Pension payments | Home

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If you had to stop working for Unilever and retired because of serious ill-health, different rules may apply to any benefits paid when you die.

Spouse or civil partner’s pension

Your spouse is generally automatically eligible for benefits when you die, if you were married to them before your Unilever employment ended and you were not separated at the date of your death. If you married your spouse after your Unilever employment ended, they do not become eligible until you have been married for at least 6 months.

Civil partners are entitled to the same benefits as a spouse.

If you are not married or do not have a civil partner, the Trustees may agree to pay benefits to another dependant if they relied on:

Your income,
Your joint income, or
You because of permanent disability

You can nominate them by completing a dependant pension request form. If you're thinking about nominating a dependant for a pension, make sure you complete the form and get the nomination agreed with the Trustees as soon as you can. Otherwise the Trustees will not be able to pay the pension. Your dependant must still be eligible to receive a dependant’s pension at the date you die.

You can also apply for another dependant to receive a pension in addition to your spouse or civil partner. If the Trustees accept your nomination, your spouse or civil partner’s pension would be reduced. This is to take account of the amount that will be paid to the nominated dependant.

If your spouse or civil partner is more than 10 years younger than you, the pension they receive will be reduced by 1.5% for each complete year of age difference above 10 years.

For example

The spouse’s pension is calculated as £5,000 a year
Your spouse is 12 years and 8 months younger than you.
That’s 2 complete years more than 10, so your pension will be reduced by 2x1.5% = 3%.
£5,000 per year reduced by 3% is £4,850 per year

What your spouse or civil partner could get

Your spouse or civil partner will receive a pension of half the total pension you were receiving at the date you died. This pension will not include any reductions made at retirement for:

Taking a tax-free cash lump sum
Taking Final Salary Plan pension early

If you die within 5 years of retiring, the remaining amount of your pension for the rest of that 5 years will be paid as a cash sum. This is based on your monthly pension at the date you die. This amount is paid tax-free if you die before age 75.

Or complete this nomination form for a lump sum death benefit.

Children’s pension

If you have children they may be entitled to a pension when you die. These pensions are paid to children up to age 18, or 23 if they are in full-time education. If a child is severely disabled, the Trustees can decide to pay them a pension for life.

What your children could get

Children’s pensions are worked out as a percentage of your total DB Career Average Plan pension (and any Final Salary Plan pension).

How much your children get depends on if a pension is being paid to a spouse/civil partner or adult who relied on you financially, and how many children you have.

The more dependents that you have, the more that your pension needs to be shared out.

If you have a spouse / civil partner or there is another adult who is financially dependent on you

Number of eligible children	1	2	3	4
Your children receive	20%	15% each	13.33% each	12.5% each

If you do not have a spouse / civil partner or another adult who is financially dependent on you

Number of eligible children	1	2	3	4
Your children receive	30%	22.5% each	20% each	18.75% each

Your defined contribution (DC) savings

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DC savings were money you paid into the DC Investing Plan or as extra voluntary contributions. What happens to this money when you die will depend on how you chose to use it at retirement. You will have been given information about this at the time you retired.