Q: Can you say something about the arrangements for gay couples in relation to pensions, and how you can give advice of a more specific nature to individuals.

A: I had a client who was gay and he’d paid considerable sums into his pension fund. What he didn’t realise was that on his demise the pension fund would close down completely whereas a conventional couple could elect to have the pension paid to a widow or widower.

So I contacted his pension provider and had a word with them and it transpired that if he elected that his partner was going to be the beneficiary of the account, they could claim the pension both ways, so whichever partner died, each of them could benefit from the other’s contributions.

Now this was something which only came up with a casual discussion that we were having after we’d filed the tax returns I just asked them, did they have any other things that they might like to talk about, and this came up.

Most accountants wouldn’t even consider doing this.