Pension Nominee Dilemma: Can the Second Wife Be Added After the First Wife's Passing?

Hi,

Here is a case: a person retired from LIC in 1994, having two wives. The first wife's death occurred in 1996. Currently, the person is 80 years old, and the second wife is 68 years old with three sons and one daughter, all of whom are married, and the youngest child is 34 years old. Can the second wife's name be added as a nominee in the pension?

Is there any offspring from the first wife? If not, the second wife automatically becomes the nominee.

Pension Regulations for LIC Employees

I have no idea about the pension regulations applicable to the employees of LIC. However, I am sure that the pension regulations of public sector undertakings like LIC are generally based on or similar to the pension rules applicable to Central/State Government employees.

Normally, the family pension would revolve around the children of the pensioner up to their age of 25 years, only in case the nominee dies. It can be inferred from the post that the pensioner had two wives at the time of his retirement, and for obvious reasons, he had not disclosed this fact to LIC and nominated the first wife only for the family pension. The ages of the children born to the second wife suggest that the children, if any, born to the first wife might also be above 25 years of age.

Pension is a social security measure for a certain class of retired employees, and family pension to the surviving family members of a deceased pensioner is a further positive gesture in this regard. Therefore, my personal view is that the widowed pensioner can nominate his second wife for the family pension irrespective of the legal status of their marriage. It would be better if Sheetu verifies the Pension Rules of LIC.

Regards

LIC Pension Rules 1995: Family Pension Distribution

An extract of LIC Pension Rules 1995:

(5) (a) Where family pension is payable to more than one widow, the family pension shall be paid to the widows in equal shares.

(b) On the death of a widow, her share of the family pension shall become payable to her eligible child. Provided that if the widow is not survived by any child, her share of the family pension shall not lapse but shall be payable to the other widows in equal shares, or if there is only one such other widow, in full, to her.

(c) Where the deceased employee or pensioner is survived by a widow but has left behind eligible child or children from another wife who is not alive, the eligible child or children shall be entitled to the share of family pension which the mother would have received if she had been alive at the time of the death of the employee or pensioner.

This may help: http://licindia.in <link fixed>