Back in 2017 we told you the story of Charlotte Hughes, a young widow whose husband had died.
MOD honoured an old nomination form, paying the death-in-service lump sum of over £120K to his mate rather than his wife, even though there was strong evidence to show that that had not been his intention. On pages 28/29 of the Spring issue of Envoy Magazine we explain what happened next and look at the rules as they stand now.
Charlotte’s plight was taken up by the Society and we helped her make her case to the Pensions Ombudsman. Unfortunately, the Pensions Ombudsman found that the MOD had behaved correctly as the wording of the rules meant that MOD had not got the discretion to ignore Sergeant Hughes’ original nomination form. However, recognising the unfairness of Charlotte’s position, MOD have changed the AFPS 05 and AFPS 15 scheme rules to avoid the same thing happening to another widow or widower in the future.
AFPS 75 did not need to be changed as it specifies exactly who is eligible to receive any death-in-service lump sum or pension lump sum in the event of the member’s death, - so there is no ability to nominate.
Both AFPS 05 and AFPS 15 allow the member to nominate one or more people or organisations as recipients. Nominations must be made on an AFPS Form 2 and, if more than one person or organisation is nominated, it must be specified how the sum is to be divided. Veterans UK will comply with the wishes expressed in the nomination from unless one of the following applies, in which case the original nomination will lapse:
- The nominee dies before the member;
- The nominee is the member’s spouse or civil partner and the relationship is legally dissolved. The member may re-nominate the ‘ex’ after the decree absolute, should they so wish;
- The member married or entered into a civil partnership from 1 December 2018 – and this is Charlotte’s Rule. If your marriage pre-dates the change, it worth checking that any existing nomination reflect the family’s current needs.
- The nominee is convicted of the murder or manslaughter of the member (and potentially any other offences relating to the nominee killing or wounding of a member, depending on circumstances).
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