Superannuation Act 1949, and the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1946, and this Act may be cited together as the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1949
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1949 c. 44 |
| Year | 1949 |
Superannuation Act , 1949
(12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6) 44
An Act to amend the law relating to the superannuation and other benefits payable to and in respect of persons who serve or have served in the civil service of the State or in service to which the Superannuation (Various Services) Act, 1938, applies or are existing Irish officers within the meaning of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920; to authorise the payment of annual allowances and gratuities to and in respect of persons who are injured or contract diseases while employed in a civil capacity for the purposes of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[14th July 1949]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
Pensions to Widows, Children, Etc.
Pensions under Part I
1 Power to grant widows' and children's pensions.
1. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Treasury may, on the death of a male person to whom this Part of this Act applies (hereafter in this Part of this Act referred to as ‘the deceased’), grant, in respect of his service—
Provided that any marriage of the deceased which takes place after he has ceased to be a civil servant shall be left out of account for the purposes of this Part of this Act, and any reference in this Part of this Act to a marriage, a wife, the widow or the children of the deceased shall be construed accordingly.
2 Pensions under Part I to depend on deceased's superannuation allowance.
(1) A pension shall not be granted under this Part of this Act unless—
(a ) the deceased had become eligible for the grant of a superannuation allowance (whether such an allowance had actually been granted or not); or
(b ) the deceased was still serving as a civil servant at the time of his death and would, if he had then retired upon a medical certificate, have been eligible for the grant of a superannuation allowance; or
(c ) the deceased had ceased to be a civil servant in such circumstances that, on attaining a particular age, he would or might have become eligible for a superannuation allowance by virtue of subsection (2) of section thirty-four of this Act (which relates to superannuation benefit in certain cases of premature retirement).
(2) In this Part of this Act, the expression ‘the rate of the superannuation allowance of the deceased’ means the annual rate of the superannuation allowance mentioned in subsection (1) of this section for which the deceased had become eligible (whether such an allowance at that or any other rate had actually been granted or not), or, as the case may be, for which he would or might have become eligible, any abatements falling to be made under regulations made under subsection (4) of section sixty-nine of the National Insurance Act, 1946, being left out of account.
3 Widows' pensions.
(1) A widow's pension shall not be granted if—
(a ) the widow was at the time of the death cohabiting with a person other than the deceased; or
(b ) after the death the widow remarries or cohabits with any person,
and if, after the grant of a widow's pension, the widow remarries or cohabits with any person, the pension shall cease as from the date of the remarriage or the commencement of the cohabitation:
Provided that where—
(i) a pension is withheld or ceases under this section; and
(ii) the Treasury are satisfied at a subsequent date that the marriage or cohabitation has come to an end or that there are compassionate grounds for the payment of pension notwithstanding the marriage,
the Treasury may, if they think fit, grant or regrant the pension as from that date.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, a widow's pension may be paid in respect of the whole period from the death of the deceased to the death of the widow.
(3) The annual rate of a widow's pension may amount to one-third of the rate of the superannuation allowance of the deceased or to twenty-six pounds per annum, whichever is the higher.
4 Children's pensions: beneficiaries.
(1) A children's pension may be granted if, and be paid so long as and whenever, there are persons for whose benefit it can enure.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section and to the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act, the persons for whose benefit a children's pension can enure are the children of the deceased or of any wife of his who are for the time being in their period of childhood and full-time education.
(3) A children's pension cannot enure—
(a ) for the benefit of any person conceived after the deceased ceased to be a civil servant;
(b ) for the benefit of any person by reason that he is the illegitimate or adopted child of the deceased, if he was born, or, as the case may be, adopted, after the termination of the deceased's last marriage or after the deceased had ceased to be a civil servant; or
(c ) for the benefit of any person by reason that he is the child of a wife of the deceased, if he was born or became her child after the termination of the marriage or after the deceased had ceased to be a civil servant.
(4) A children's pension cannot enure for the benefit of any person by reason that—
(a ) he is the illegitimate child of the deceased; or
(b ) he is a stepchild of the deceased and a child of a wife of his; or
(c ) he is the stepchild, adopted child or illegitimate child of a wife of the deceased,
unless he was wholly or mainly dependent on the deceased at the time of his death.
(5) A children's pension cannot enure for the benefit of a female person who at the time of the death of the deceased was married or was cohabiting with any person, and if, after the death of the deceased, a female person marries or cohabits with any person, she shall thereupon cease to be a person for whose benefit a children's pension can enure:
Provided that where—
(a ) a pension is withheld from or does not enure for the benefit of a person by virtue of this subsection; and
(b ) the Treasury are satisfied at a subsequent date that the marriage or cohabitation has come to an end or that there are compassionate grounds for permitting the pension to enure for her benefit notwithstanding the marriage,
the Treasury may, if they think fit, grant the pension, or, as the case may be, permit the pension to enure for her benefit, as from that date.
(6) A children's pension cannot enure for the benefit of a person who is the subject of a nomination made by the deceased under Part II of this Act which is still in force.
5 Children's pensions: rate and mode of payment.
(1) Only one children's pension shall be granted in respect of the service of any one person, but
(a ) the rate thereof may vary according to the number of persons for whose benefit it can for the time being enure; and
(b ) it shall be paid to such person or persons as the Treasury may from time to time direct, and different parts thereof may be directed to be paid to different persons; and
(c ) the person to whom all or any part thereof is paid shall apply the sum paid to him, without distinction, for the benefit of all the persons for whose benefit the pension can for the time being enure or for the benefit of such of them as the Treasury may from time to time direct.
(2) Where the deceased leaves no widow, and, if he leaves a widow, after her death, the annual rate of a children's pension—
(a ) while the persons for whose benefit it can enure are three or more in number, may amount to one-third of the rate of the superannuation allowance of the deceased or to twenty-six pounds per annum, whichever is the higher;
(b ) while the said persons are two in number, may amount to one-quarter of the rate of the superannuation allowance of the deceased, or to nineteen pounds ten shillings per annum, whichever is the higher;
(c ) while there is only one such person, may amount to one-sixth of the rate of the superannuation allowance of the deceased or to thirteen pounds per annum, whichever is the higher.
(3) Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding subsection, where the deceased leaves a widow, the annual rate of a children's pension during her life—
(a ) while the persons for whose benefit it can enure are four or more in number, may amount to one-third of the rate of the superannuation allowance of the deceased or to twenty-six pounds per annum, whichever is the higher;
(b ) while the said persons are three in number, may amount to one-quarter of the rate of the superannuation allowance of the deceased, or to nineteen pounds ten shillings per annum, whichever is the higher;
(c ) while the said persons are two in number, may amount to one-sixth of the rate of the superannuation allowance of the deceased, or to thirteen pounds per annum, whichever is the higher;
(d ) while there is only one such person, may amount to one-twelfth of the rate of the...
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