Pension expression of wish forms and your will after April 2027

What an expression of wish form does

Pension schemes ask members to fill in a form naming the people they would like to receive the pension if they die. Schemes call it an expression of wish, a nomination or a letter of wishes. The label matters less than the effect. HMRC's technical note describes the position: most registered pension schemes operate on a discretionary basis, and the scheme trustees decide who receives death benefits, and how much, after considering potential beneficiaries and any expression of wishes the member has made.

So the answer to "who gets my pension when I die?" is, on a discretionary scheme, whoever the trustees decide, guided by your form. The form is a request. The trustees are not bound by it, although they consider it, and a clear, current form makes their decision easier to reach. Some schemes offer a binding nomination, which the trustees must follow. HMRC's note deals with those non-discretionary cases separately: the pension is treated as passing to the beneficiary once they are identified under the scheme rules.

A defined benefit scheme is narrower. GOV.UK explains that a pension from a defined benefit scheme can usually only be paid to a dependant of the person who died, such as a husband, wife, civil partner or child under 23, and that paying anyone else, where the scheme rules allow it, is taxed as an unauthorised payment at up to 55%. What a nomination can direct on a final salary scheme depends on its rules, which may limit it to a lump sum.

How scheme trustees decide

The trustees' decision is the point at which the pension passes to a beneficiary. For inheritance tax, HMRC treats the notional pension property as vested in a beneficiary when the trustees make their decision, and says the timing of any later payment is not relevant. From that moment the beneficiary is jointly and severally liable with the personal representatives for the inheritance tax attributable to what they receive.

The trustees read the form alongside the scheme rules, which set out the classes of people they can choose from, and they look at who depended on the member financially. A form naming a sibling, where the member lived with a partner and children, is one the trustees may depart from. The form is evidence of your wishes, and the clearer your reasons, the easier it is for the trustees to follow it. HMRC's own example has a member who nominated his godchild and wrote a letter to the trustees and to his brother explaining why. The trustees followed his wishes.

Decisions take time. The trustees cannot pay until they know who the beneficiaries are, and that can run for months. From April 2027 the delay affects the tax, because inheritance tax on the pension is due at the end of the sixth month after death whether or not the trustees have decided. Executors, pensions and inheritance tax deadlines covers what personal representatives can do while they wait.

Why the pension sits outside your will

A will deals with property that passes to your personal representatives when you die. Death benefits under a discretionary pension scheme do not pass to them. The trustees pay them direct to the beneficiaries they choose. A will that leaves "everything to my children" therefore does not carry the pension with it, and a pension form naming a new partner changes nothing in the will.

Before April 2027 that separation also kept the pension out of the estate for inheritance tax. For deaths on or after 6 April 2027 it no longer does. Section 150A of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 treats the member as beneficially entitled to the pension immediately before death, so its value is added to the estate for tax. The money still goes where the trustees decide. The tax is now worked out across the will and the pension together, while the two documents continue to send the money to different places.

Who bears the tax on the pension from April 2027

The inheritance tax on an estate is calculated on the combined total, and HMRC's worked examples show it issuing one calculation for the free estate and another for the pension. Each part then has to be paid by somebody.

Section 211 of the 1984 Act decides where the burden falls. Tax on property in the UK that vests in the personal representatives, and was not held in a settlement, is treated as a general testamentary and administration expense, so it comes out of the residue unless the will says otherwise. The pension does not vest in the personal representatives, so its tax is outside that rule. The Finance Act 2026 replaced section 211(3) to deal with it. Where the personal representatives pay tax attributable to property vested in someone else, they can deduct it from anything that person is due to receive from the estate. If there is nothing to deduct from, or not enough, that person must repay them.

Take a parent whose will leaves the house and savings to two children equally, and whose pension form names one of them. From April 2027 the tax on the pension goes with the pension. Where the personal representatives pay it, they can take it from that child's share under the will, and if that share is too small the child has to repay the balance. Where the scheme pays it under a payment notice, it comes out of the pension itself. Without anything in the will to change it, the child who receives the pension bears its tax. A will can direct that the tax on the pension is paid from residue, which spreads the cost across everyone who shares the residue. That is a drafting choice to make deliberately, with the pension figures in front of you.

If there is no nomination

A missing or out-of-date form does not stop the pension being paid. The trustees decide under the scheme rules, choosing among the classes of beneficiary the rules allow. Depending on the scheme, that can include people who were financially dependent on the member, relatives, or the estate itself.

A payment to the estate brings the pension under the will, or under the intestacy rules if there is no will. It arrives as a lump sum. If the member died aged 75 or over, a lump sum death benefit paid to personal representatives, or to trustees who are not bare trustees, is subject to the special lump sum death benefits charge at 45% under section 206 of the Finance Act 2004. For deaths from April 2027, new section 206A stops that charge applying to the part of the lump sum used to pay inheritance tax.

The reverse case, a nomination with no will, appears in HMRC's August 2026 note. A man of 51 died without a will, leaving a partner and three teenage children, having nominated his partner on his workplace pension. His brother took on the estate but did not contact the scheme. The trustees completed their process and paid the partner 12 weeks after the death. HMRC's guidance is that where no personal representative has made contact, schemes should identify the beneficiaries and pay without further delay, telling the beneficiary that the pension may be subject to inheritance tax. On an intestacy the family also has no executor chosen in advance, and dying without a will sets out who inherits the rest.

The simplest protection is a current form for every scheme you belong to, including old workplace pots from earlier jobs, and a will made with those forms in view.

Reading the will and the forms together

Three drafting points come up when a will is read against the pension forms.

Nil-rate band legacies

Some wills leave "the largest amount that can pass without inheritance tax" to a trust or to children, with the rest to a spouse. The size of that gift depends on what else in the estate uses the nil-rate band. From April 2027 a pension paid to anyone other than a spouse, civil partner or charity is part of the chargeable estate, and adding it can change what such a clause gives away. A will with a formula legacy of that kind, written before the change was announced, needs reading again with the pension values beside it.

Trusts as beneficiaries

Some people nominate a trust to receive the pension, to keep control of money for young children or to protect it on a second marriage. HMRC's note confirms that where a trust is a beneficiary, the trust may be liable for the inheritance tax attributable to the pension. Where the member died at 75 or over, a lump sum paid to trustees who are not bare trustees attracts the 45% special charge, and section 206(8) lets an individual who later receives a payment from the trust claim credit for that tax. A trust set up years ago for pension money should be checked against both taxes.

Blended families

Where the will provides for one family and the pension form for another, April 2027 changes who pays the tax. Pensions and inheritance tax from April 2027 works through that case, and mirror wills and second marriages covers the will side.

Marriage, divorce and new partners

The Wills Act 1837 does some of the updating for a will. Under section 18, marriage revokes a will made before it, unless the will was made in expectation of that marriage. Under section 18A, when a marriage is dissolved or annulled, gifts to the former spouse and their appointment as executor take effect as if the former spouse had died on that date. Both sections apply to wills. A pension scheme will not know about a marriage or a divorce until it is told, and the form on its file stays as it was.

A form completed in favour of a spouse fifteen years ago can still name that person after a divorce, and a form completed before a new relationship says nothing about the new partner. The trustees can take a change in circumstances into account, but the form is the first thing they read. Any event that sends you to update your will is a reason to update every pension form at the same time: marriage, a civil partnership, separation, divorce, a new partner, children and grandchildren, and a death in the family.

Keep a list of every scheme you belong to, with the date you last updated each form. HMRC's note suggests schemes encourage members to keep an up-to-date record of all their arrangements, because the personal representatives will need to find each one. Changing a will covers the will side of the same events.

Changing things after a death

A deed of variation lets beneficiaries redirect what they inherit within two years of the death, and have it treated for inheritance tax as if the deceased had left it that way. Section 142 of the 1984 Act applies to dispositions of the property in the estate immediately before death, whether made by will, under the intestacy rules or otherwise.

Whether that reaches pension death benefits after April 2027 is not settled. Section 150A treats the pension as part of the estate immediately before death for inheritance tax, but section 142 has not been amended to refer to it, the benefits are paid by the trustees under the scheme rules, and HMRC has not said how a variation would work for them. HMRC's third technical note is expected to cover trusts and intestacy, and may deal with it. Until then the safe course is to get the pension forms and the will right during life. Deeds of variation covers what a variation can do for the rest of the estate.

Frequently asked questions

Who gets my pension when I die?

On a discretionary scheme, the people the trustees decide, guided by your expression of wish form and limited by the scheme rules. On a scheme with a binding nomination, the people you named. A final salary scheme can usually pay a pension only to a dependant, such as a spouse, civil partner or child under 23. Your will does not decide who receives pension death benefits unless the trustees pay them to your estate.

Does my will override my pension nomination?

No. Pension death benefits under a discretionary scheme are paid by the trustees direct to the beneficiaries they choose, and never pass through the will. The will can still matter for the tax: from April 2027 it can direct whether the inheritance tax attributable to the pension comes out of the residue or is left with the person who receives the pension.

What happens to my pension if there is no nomination?

The trustees decide under the scheme rules, choosing among the classes of beneficiary the rules allow, which can include people who depended on you, relatives or your estate. A payment to the estate then passes under your will or the intestacy rules. If you died at 75 or over, a lump sum paid to the estate is subject to a 45% special charge, with relief from April 2027 for the part used to pay inheritance tax.

Are pension trustees bound by an expression of wish?

Not on a discretionary scheme, which is the usual arrangement. HMRC describes trustees deciding who receives death benefits after considering potential beneficiaries and any expression of wishes. A clear, current form, with a letter explaining your reasons where the choice might look surprising, makes it easier for them to follow it. A binding nomination, where a scheme offers one, does bind them.

Does getting married or divorced change my pension nomination?

No. Section 18 of the Wills Act 1837 revokes a will on marriage, and section 18A changes how a will takes effect after divorce, but both apply only to wills. A pension form stays as it is until you change it with the scheme. Update every pension form whenever you update your will.

Should my pension be paid into my estate?

It depends on the circumstances, and the consequences are worth understanding before choosing it. A payment to the estate is made as a lump sum and passes under the will. If the member died at 75 or over, it attracts a 45% special charge. From April 2027 the pension counts for inheritance tax wherever it is paid. Paying to named individuals keeps options such as a beneficiary's drawdown account open.

Can a deed of variation redirect a pension after April 2027?

That is not settled. Section 142 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 has not been amended to refer to pension property, the benefits are paid by the trustees under the scheme rules, and HMRC has not yet said how a variation would apply. HMRC's third technical note is expected to cover trusts and intestacy. Until the position is clear, arrange the pension forms and the will during life.

Sources & further reading

• GOV.UK — Technical note: Inheritance Tax on pensions
• GOV.UK — Further information on Inheritance Tax and pensions
• legislation.gov.uk — IHTA 1984, section 211 (burden of tax)
• legislation.gov.uk — IHTA 1984, section 142 (variations)
• legislation.gov.uk — Finance Act 2004, section 206 (special lump sum death benefits charge)
• legislation.gov.uk — Wills Act 1837, section 18 (marriage)
• legislation.gov.uk — Wills Act 1837, section 18A (divorce)
• GOV.UK — Tax on a private pension you inherit

This article is general information, not legal advice. The law changes and depends on your circumstances — always take advice on your specific situation before acting. Last reviewed 29 September 2026. AD Solicitors Limited is a recognised body regulated by the SRA (no. 8011228).