We will usually pay a lump sum death grant when you die unless we have been paying your pension to you for more than ten years.
One exception to this is if your benefits were on hold before 2008. A lump sum death grant is then only payable if we have been paying your pension to you for less than five years.
GMPF decides who to pay your death grant to, and we have payment guidelines that help us do this. However, you can complete an expression of wish nomination, telling us about those you would like us to pay. You can nominate whoever you want and can propose one or several beneficiaries. We will always try to follow your wishes. However, we must consider all relatives and dependants before making our decision. If the person or people you nominate are not your closest family, please consider telling us why you have chosen them as this information might help us when deciding who to pay.
The best way to make or update your expression of wish nomination is by logging into your online My Pension account. Select ‘Life Cover’ on the My Pension home page and follow the links to tell us any extra information that might be helpful. Or you can request a form by calling our Customer Services team.
You can find more information about how we work out your death benefits on our What death benefits we pay webpage as well as details of our payment guidelines.