Claiming bereavement benefits

If your husband, wife or partner has died, you may be able to claim bereavement benefits.

If your husband, wife or civil partner died on or before 5 April 2017, you may already have got or be getting the following: 

• Bereavement Payment – a tax-free bereavement payment.
• Bereavement Allowance – a weekly payment for people who were aged 45 and over, but under the State Pension age, when their partner died
• Widowed Parent's Allowance – a weekly payment for people who have children or young adults and are receiving Child Benefit.

If you are making a new claim and your partner died on or after 6 April 2017, you need to apply for Bereavement Support Payment.

Previously, you could only claim Widowed Parent’s Allowance if you were married or in a civil partnership when your husband, wife or civil partner died.

The government is changing the rules so that you do not need to have been married or in a civil partnership to claim Widowed Parent’s Allowance. But you do need to have been living with your partner when they died.

The changes have not yet been fully approved. But when they are, they will apply retrospectively. This means if your partner died on or after 30 August 2018, you could claim backdated Widowed Parent’s Allowance. You may also be able to claim backdated payments if your partner died before 5 April 2017, and on 30 August 2018 you were still responsible for a child. Any backdated payments will be paid as a lump sum.

If you think these changes may affect you, it is good to seek expert advice. For more information, call our welfare rights advisers on 0808 808 00 00.

To get Bereavement Support Payment, you must have been under State Pension age when your partner died.

You could be eligible if your husband, wife or civil partner either:

• paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks in any 1 tax year
• died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work.

If you are already getting Widowed Parent's Allowance, you will continue to get that benefit in the same way as before. You can find out more about these older benefits at GOV.UK. 

You cannot get any bereavement benefits if:

• you were divorced from your husband or wife when they died
• your civil partnership ended before your partner died.

The government is changing the rules so you do not need to be married or in a civil partnership to claim Bereavement Support Payment. But you do need to have been living with your partner when they died.

The changes have not yet been fully approved. If you are a parent whose co-habiting partner has died, you can still apply for Bereavement Support Payment. Your claim will be refused, but you may be able to challenge the decision. A Macmillan welfare rights adviser can give expert advice about how to do this.

You may also be able to get help towards funeral costs if you get certain benefits. For more information, call our welfare rights advisers on 0808 808 00 00.

Visit macmillan.org.uk/inyourarea to find out if you can see a Macmillan welfare rights adviser in person.