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Death 10/08/2005
A civil partner has a legal right to inherit a part of their deceased partner’s estate, including the shared home, even if their partner dies without making a will. (The legal complications involved for your surviving partner or close relatives if you do die without making a will are considerable, and the Equality Network strongly recommends that a will is made.) If your partner makes a will, under Scots law the surviving civil partner can choose between what was bequeathed in the will, or their legal right to half of their partner’s "movable property" (such as savings, a car, jewellery). If there are children, they also have a legal right to inherit a share of the estate. The surviving civil partner doesn’t pay inheritance tax on anything inherited from their partner.
The Law Society of Scotland publications Executries and Making a will are helpful in more detail than we can give here.
A surviving civil partner may be entitled to bereavement payment, bereavement allowance and widowed parent's allowance (entitlement is the same as for a widow or widower). A surviving civil partner may also be entitled to a Category B state retirement pension based on your partner’s contribution record, in line with the entitlement that now exists for widowers. (Civil partners are also entitled to war widows/widowers pensions on the same terms as married couples.)
With respect to your partner’s personal pension, a surviving civil partner may be entitled to the same pension benefits as would be paid to a surviving husband or wife. If your partner’s pension was in the public sector, civil partners will be treated equally with married couples. If your partner’s pension was in the private sector, it will depend on the pension agreement and on the pension provider. Check the small print and ask.
If your partner’s employer offers a death in service benefit, payable to a husband or wife, the same death in service benefit must be offered to a civil partner. If the benefit is payable to an unmarried cohabitant (bidie-in) in a mixed-sex relationship, the same benefit must be payable to an unmarried cohabitant in a same-sex relationship.
If your bidie-in was not in a civil partnership and had not made a will, but you were living together in Scotland at the time your bidie-in died, you may be able to apply in court for a share of the net intestate estate. If you need to make an application, you must do so within six months of the day your bidie-in died.
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau will be able to advise you on rights, benefits, and where to find bereavement counselling. See www.cas.org.uk or look up your local bureau in the phone book.
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