The benefits that you will be able to get will depend upon your individual circumstances. Listed below are some of the main benefits that you may be able to get.
Housing and Council Tax Benefit
Bereavement Payment
This is a one off lump sum payment of £2,000 paid to a bereaved person under the pension age at the time of their late spouse or civil partners death and who’s late spouse or partner has:
met the national insurance conditions for the payments; or
died as a result of an industrial injury or disease.
You will also qualify if you are over the pension age as long as your late spouse or civil partner was not entitled to a retirement pension at the time of their death. The claim must be made within 12 months of the date of death or it cannot be paid. An extension may be granted in some circumstances such as, you were unaware of the date of death.
Widowed Parents Allowance
You can claim Widowed Parents Allowance if you are:
a pregnant widow or civil partner; or
a widow, widower or civil partner who is entitled to Child Benefit for at least one child.
You normally have to be under pension age to get this benefit and also meet one of the following criteria:
Your late spouse or civil partner meets the National Insurance contribution conditions; or
Your late spouse or civil partner has died as a result of an industrial accident or disease.
There is normally a maximum of 3 months backdating from when you make a claim. You will also need to tell the Tax Credit Office of the death of your spouse or civil partner if you receive tax credits.
These may be affected by the change in your circumstances.
Bereavement Allowance
You may be able to claim Bereavement Allowance for up to 52 weeks if you are:
a widow, widower or surviving civil partner aged 45 or over when your husband, wife or civil partner died
under the pension age; and
not bringing up children
In addition one of the following conditions must be met:
Your late spouse or civil partner must have met the National Insurance Contributions (NICs); or
Your late spouse or civil partner died as a result of an industrial accident or disease.
If you are under the age of 55 when your spouse or civil partner dies, you will receive a reduced rate of Bereavement Allowance.
You cannot receive Bereavement Allowance and Widowed Parents Allowance at the same time. There is normally a maximum of 3 months backdating from when you make a claim.
When your Bereavement Allowance ends, you may be entitled to claim Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support or Pension Credit.
Funeral Grant
If you're on a low income and need help to pay for a funeral you're arranging, you may be able to get a Funeral Expenses Payment from the Social Fund. You might have to repay some or all of it from the estate of the person who died.
You may be eligible for a Funeral Payment, if you or your partner get any of the following benefits or tax credits:
income support
income based jobseekers allowance
income related employment and support allowance housing or council tax benefit ; or
pension credit or tax credits paid above a certain rate.
You may find that you only qualify for one of these benefits after the death of your spouse or civil partner. You can still get a Funeral Expenses Payment but you will need to claim within 3 months of the date of the funeral.
You may also choose to use The Hounslow Community Funeral Service which provides a simple, dignified funeral at a specially agreed fixed price. The service is available for all funerals being arranged where a resident of the borough has died. The scheme is run in partnership with certain local funeral directors.
To find out more about the Hounslow Community Funeral Service, visit our webpage under ‘Related pages’.
Jobseekers Allowance
You may be able to get Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) if you are:
aged 18 or over but below State Pension age
unemployed;
willing and able to take up work immediately; and
actively seeking work.
There are some reductions in the number of hours you are expected to work if you are a carer or are limited due to your health. You have to sign on and have a Jobseekers Agreement.
There are two types of Jobseekers Allowance, contribution-based Jobseekers Allowance and income-based Jobseekers Allowance:
Contribution Based Jobseekers Allowance
You may be entitled to claim contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance if you have paid or been credited with enough National Insurance contributions (NICs) in the right years. Contribution-based JSA is not means tested but it is only payable for 6 months. If you get a pension payment of over £50 per week, you will receive your contribution-based JSA less this amount.
Income Based Jobseekers Allowance
You may be entitled to claim income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, if you're on a low income and have not paid enough National Insurance Contributions (NICs).
This benefit is means tested and will be affected by your savings and most income that you have coming in.
You will not be able to get income-based JSA if you:
have savings over £16,000; and
work 16 hours per week or more.
Income-based Job Seekers Allowance can help with any mortgage payments.
Income Support
Income Support is extra money to help people on a low income.
You may be able to get Income Support if you:
are aged between 16 and Pension Credit age;
are on a low income
work less than 16 hours a week;
have less than £16,000 savings; and
not expected to find work (for example single parents, carers, people on parental or paternity leave, or refugees learning English who arrived less than a year ago).
This benefit is means tested and will be affected by your savings and most income that you have coming in.
Income Support can help with mortgage payments.
Tax Credits
Tax credits are payments from the government. If you're responsible for at least one child or young person, you may qualify for Child Tax Credit. If you work, but are on a low income, you may qualify for Working Tax Credit. You can often get both types of tax credits.
You may be entitled to Working Tax Credit, if you work at least 16 hours a week and you are:
aged 16 or over and responsible for at least one child, or
aged 16 or over and disabled, or
aged 25 or over and usually work at least 30 hours a week
Please note: there are special rules if you are aged 50 or over and work at least 16 hours a week.
From April 2011, people aged 60 and over who work 16 hours a week will qualify for Working Tax Credit.
Child Tax Credit can be claimed if you have at least one dependant child:
up to age 16; or
up to age 20 and still in full time education or unwaged training of at least 12 hours per week and the course being studied is no higher than A levels.
Tax Credits is means tested and paid by HM Revenues and Customs but the means test is more generous than for most other benefits. This means you can still receive the basic amount even if you are on quite a high level of income.
Housing and Council Tax Benefit
Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit are payments which can help you pay your rent and Council Tax if you are on a low income.
If your late spouse or civil partner had made the claim for one or both of these benefits, you will need to make a new claim in your name following their death.
You may be entitled to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit if you are:
responsible for rent and/or Council Tax; and
on a low income with savings of less than £16,000.
These are both means tested benefits and are claimed from the Local Authority.
Housing and Council Tax Benefit will not cover your mortgage but you may be able to get help with this if you are on Pension Credit, Income Support, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance or Income Related Employment and Support Allowance.
If you have savings over £16,000 and are under the qualifying age for Pension Credit, you will not be able to claim either of these benefits.
Please note: special rules apply if you are over the Pension Credit qualifying age.
Health Benefits
NHS Health Benefits
Most National Health Service (NHS) treatment is free but there can be charges for some things such as prescription costs, dental fees, optician fees, travel expenses and surgical aids.
You may be able to get help with these NHS health costs if you:
are on a low income; and
do not have savings over £16,000.
You will automatically qualify for full help with NHS costs, if you get any one of the following benefits:
income support
income based jobseekers allowance
income related employment and support allowance
guarantee pension credit; and
tax credits (in some cases).
You may also qualify for other reasons such as your age, certain named health conditions, pregnancy or if you are responsible for a child under 12 months of age.
For more information about who qualifies for help with NHS health benefit, vist the Directgov website available on this page under external links.
Other information
You will no longer get any means tested benefit claimed by your late spouse or civil partner following their death. You will need to make your own claim to continue to get the benefit.
When you register the death of a spouse or civil partner, you will be given an extra copy of their death certificate. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will need to see this to assess your change in circumstances and work out what benefits you may be entitled to.
The Registrars Office will tell us about your change in circumstances as you may be entitled to a Council Tax reduction.
Bereavement Payment and some other benefits can be affected if you get a new partner. Be sure to get advice about your benefits if your circumstances change.
The benefits and tax credits that you may be able to get will depend upon your circumstances.
If you are not sure about anything you should always seek advice. You can call us on our public helpline number 020 8583 5016.