Pensions law update: June 2026

Throughout the passage of the Pension Schemes Act 2026 through Parliament, investments, and trustee duties in relation to them, were a hot topic. In this month’s newsletter we bring you an in-depth piece giving the legal perspective on alternative investments for pension schemes, as well as all the latest on the Act itself as we move to the implementation phase.

There are also updates on key developments in relation to the forthcoming inheritance tax changes for pensions – now under a year away, the latest from the Pensions Regulator on how pension schemes should approach artificial intelligence and a round up of governance updates including in relation to pensions dashboards, excepted group life arrangements and recent overpayments complaints determined by the Ombudsman.

Policy round up

April 2027 inheritance tax changes

As we have highlighted previously, unused pension pots and certain death benefits will form part of a member’s estate for inheritance tax purposes with effect from 6 April 2027.

On 11 May HMRC published a technical note, outlining further detail on how the process for payment of IHT on pensions will work in practice, and setting out a timetable for further detail and guidance to be published. In this article, Head of Probate, Rachel Pinn considers what we know so far about how the process will work from a personal representative’s perspective:

Since Rachel’s article was published HMRC has published a consultation on draft legislation to amend existing information-sharing regulations in response to the inheritance tax on pensions changes. The consultation closes on 11 June 2026.

Pension Schemes Act 2026

A reminder that our Pension Schemes Act handbook – your companion to key reforms being made by the Act and beyond – is available on our website. With dedicated chapters for DB and DC schemes, for the LGPS and for wider reforms including IHT and salary sacrifice changes, our easy-to-navigate guide is a handy resource for trustees, scheme managers, employers and pension professionals. 

In the last two videos in our series looking at individual aspects of the PSA26 changes, Michael Hayles and Gary Delderfield comment on key changes for the Local Government Pension Scheme in relation to investment pooling and governance arrangements.