Help for the bereaved

If you are widowed there are different kinds of benefits you can get. The benefit you get may depend on your age or the number of children you have living with you. The amount you can get is based on your husband’s or wife’s national insurance contributions. Do not delay in making your claim or you may lose benefit.

If you cannot get a full pension because of a shortfall in your husband's or wife's contributions, and they died because of an accident at work or an industrial disease, the Department for Work and Pensions will treat your case as if your husband or wife had a full contribution record.

If you remarry or live with someone as husband and wife, you will not be able to go on getting bereavement benefits or widow's benefits.

Bereavement payment

If your husband or wife died on or after 9 April 2001 you may get a bereavement payment. This is a tax-free lump sum paid as soon as you are widowed if your husband or wife had paid enough national insurance contributions and one of the following applies:

• your husband or wife was not entitled to a category A state retirement pension when they died
• or you were under state pension age when your husband or wife died.

You must claim within three months of your husband's or wife's death. For claims that relate to deaths that occur on or after 1 April 2003, the period for claiming bereavement payment has been extended to 12 months. For more information, contact your Jobcentre Plus, Jobcentre or social security office.

Bereavement allowance

You may be able to get bereavement allowance if:

• you were aged 45 or over but below state pension age when your husband or wife died.
• you are entitled to bereavement allowance, the amount you can get depends on your age when your husband or wife died and their national insurance contributions.
• you were aged 55 or over, you will get the full rate of bereavement allowance. If you were under 55, you will get less than the full amount.

Bereavement allowance is payable from the date of bereavement for a maximum of 52 weeks. It will stop if you become entitled to state retirement pension before the end of the 52 weeks.

Bereavement allowance cannot include any additional pension and is paid at the basic rate only. Women widowed before 9 April 2001 will receive their widow's benefit entitlement on the arrangements that existed before that date.

Time limits for claiming bereavement allowance remain at three months from the date of death.

Widowed parent's allowance

You may be able to get widowed parent's allowance if:

• your husband or wife died on or after 9 April 2001 and you·have at least one child for whom you can get child benefit and you are under pension age
• or you are expecting a child by your late husband

You will get a basic rate of widowed parent’s allowance and an additional pension based on your husband's or wife's earnings. Your basic rate of widowed parents allowance will depend on your husband's or wife's national insurance record.

Time limits for claiming widowed parent's allowance remain at three months from the date of death.

Please view the Directgov - Bereavement Factsheets for more details.

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