FAQs on Bereavement

You can nominate a beneficiary (spouse, civil partner or relevant partner*) by completing our online Nomination of Beneficiary form. You need to be registered on our member website to nominate your beneficiary. If you have any trouble nominating your beneficiary online, please contact our dedicated Contact Centre who can assist you further.

You also don't need to nominate any children. We'll enquire about any eligible children as part of the bereavement process.

*A relevant partner is someone who our member wasn’t married to or in a civil partnership with, but who they lived with as if they were married or in a civil partnership.

If you need to report the passing of a member of the Financial Assistance Scheme, you can do so by clicking the Notify us of bereavement button on the FAS Homepage under Need to inform us of a bereavement? section.
If you’d prefer to speak to someone, please call us on 0330 678 0000 or +44 (0)20 8406 2121, if you live overseas.

You can report the passing of a member of the Financial Assistance Scheme by using our online notification service.

Examples of information we need include:

• details of the deceased (such as name, address, date of birth, date of death, National Insurance number or FAS reference number)
• details of the person - or persons - in charge of the estate (if known)
• whether there are any potential beneficiaries (if you're unsure, please read our 'Payments for spouses, partners and children' booklet)
• a scan of the death certificate (if available)

We understand that some of this information may not be available so please provide as much as you can.

With our new online beneficiary nomination form, you now have the choice to opt out of nominating a beneficiary.

You can nominate your spouse, *relevant partner, or civil partner. You can only nominate a relevant partner if your former scheme allowed for a relevant partner to receive pension after your death. You don't need to nominate any children.

A *relevant partner is someone who you aren’t married to or in a civil partnership with, but who you live with as if you’re married or in a civil partnership.

You may have an entitlement from the FAS if your spouse, civil partner or relevant partner would have received a FAS payment. If the scheme rules made provisions for a survivor’s pension to be paid to a relevant partner, your relevant partner may be entitled to FAS payments in certain circumstances. A relevant partner is someone of either sex to who you are neither married or in a civil partnership with, but who you live with as if you were.

For more information, please take a look at our 'Payments for Spouses, Partners and Children' booklet.

If you're married or have a civil partner when you die then your widow, widower or surviving civil partner may receive FAS payments. This payment will not be affected if they remarry or form a new civil partnership. Assistance could also be paid to any dependent child.

Payment will not be made if you were receiving FAS Assistance on the basis that you were the survivor of a scheme member.

If the scheme rules made provision for a survivor's pension to be paid to a relevant partner, that relevant partner may be entitled to FAS payments in certain circumstances. A relevant partner is someone of either sex who you are neither married to or in a civil partnership with, but who you live with as if you were.

Nominating relevant partners can be important. For instance, if you separated from your spouse but didn't get divorced – and you’ve not nominated your new partner – payments would automatically be made to your spouse. Also, evidence of financial dependence is not needed where a relevant partner has been nominated. You can nominate a partner on the FAS member website.

Register now by clicking the Register button in the Member Registration section of the FAS Homepage or call us on 0330 678 0000 or +44 (0)208 406 2121 if you're overseas.

For more information about what will happen to your FAS payments when you die, please refer to our 'Payments for Spouses, Partners and Children' booklet.

In most cases we’ll need to see a copy of a member’s death certificate. A death certificate isn't needed when the Government's Tell Us Once service is used.
Other documents may be needed, depending on your personal circumstances such as a:

• Marriage certificate
• Civil registration certificate
• Decree absolute
• Dissolution certificate
• Child(ren)’s birth certificate(s)
• Amended birth certificates issued on adoption
• Name and contact details for the person dealing with the Estate

Where the deceased had a relevant partner*, we’ll need the proof that they were living with the member at the time of their death. Any document you provide should be dated within 12 months prior to the member's death, showing the same address we held on our records for them. We don’t need originals.

You need to upload one document from the list below:

• Valid UK driving license
• Bill such as a utility (e.g. Water, Gas, Electricity, TV, Internet, Phone and streaming services)
• Council Tax bill
• Bank statement
• Letter from a hospital or clinic confirming an appointment
• Letter from an official body such as the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs or a Local Authority

*A relevant partner is someone who our member wasn’t married to or in a civil partnership with, but who they lived with as if they were married or in a civil partnership.

Yes, if you have eligible children, they will receive FAS payments until they are no longer eligible.

An eligible child is a child who is your biological child (born or unborn at the date of your death), an adopted child, or a child who was financially dependent upon you at the time of your death. And who is:

• under 18, or
• over 18 and under 23 and in qualifying education, or
• over 18 and under 23 and has a qualifying disability.

For more information, please refer to our 'Payments for Spouses, Partners and Children' booklet.

A relevant partner is someone who you aren’t married to or in a civil partnership with, but who you live with as if you’re married or in a civil partnership.

You're be able to see the nomination online immediately, if you've submitted evidence we'll review this within 10 working days.

• Validated: We've checked your record and hold the up-to-date evidence of your nomination. You don’t need to take any further action now.
• Not Validated: This means:
  1. We’ve either not received any evidence to support your nomination. In which case, your beneficiary may have to provide more evidence in the event of your death, or
  2. If there has been a change (i.e. address and/or name) to your nomination, it will show as 'Not Validated' until the changes are reviewed by our Member Services team, or
  3. Your nomination is more than 12 months old and you’ve yet to confirm the details are still correct.