Lump sum death benefits 2

United Kingdom

Reference: J00013

A member died and the trustees decided to pay one third of the lump sum to his mother despite having sight of a draft will found on his computer which made no provision for the mother. The member's wife complained. The Ombudsman held that it was perverse for the trustees not to have taken the draft will into account in their deliberations. In addition, the member's mother and others had made various adverse comments about the wife and the trustees were criticised for not giving the wife a chance to respond to these comments.