Key life events

If you’re still paying in to USS, speak to your employer. They’ll be able to provide you with a form to get things started.

If you’ve stopped paying in to USS, you can contact our Ill Health Retirement Team on 0151 478 7014.

All you have to do is complete an Expression of Wish form or a Registration of potential dependant form to let us know who you’d like to receive your benefits if you die. It doesn’t always have to be a person, it could even be a charity or any other organisation capable of receiving the money.

We recommend that you update theses every three years so we know they’re up to date, even if your wishes haven’t changed.

Log in to My USS to complete these online or download the Expression of Wish form or Registration of potential dependant form to print and return to us.

You can contact our Bereavement Team on 0151 556 0620.

Log in to My USS to complete the Registration of potential dependant form online or download the Registration of potential dependant form to print and return to us. We recommend that you update this at least every three years so we know it’s up to date, even if your wishes haven’t changed.

For more information, take a look at what happens when you die.

Log in to My USS to complete the Expression of Wish form online or download the Expression of Wish form to print and return to us. We recommend that you update this at least every three years so we know it’s up to date, even if your wishes haven’t changed.

For more information, take a look at what happens when you die.

Take a look at our Divorce factsheet.

For information on maternity, paternity, shared parental leave or family leave, take a look at becoming a parent.

We’ll base your contributions on your actual salary during the year – not the full-time equivalent. And if your salary in any given month is over the monthly equivalent of the salary threshold, you and your employer will automatically contribute to your Investment Builder pot for that month.

If you’re a variable-time worker, find more information on our changes to your job page.

You get life cover whilst paying in to USS. This means if you die whilst paying in, your loved ones may be able to get a lump sum of three times your salary – and a pension too.

If you’ve stopped paying in to USS or are already retired, your loved ones may still be eligible to the benefits that you’ve built up.

Read more on our what happens when you die page.

Things change as you move through life, which could affect your pension or who you choose as your beneficiaries. Take a look at our life events pages to find out what will happen to your pension depending on what’s happening in your life.

A dependant is someone who’s fully or partly financially dependent on you, or dependent on you because of any physical or mental disability when you die.