Financial and emotional support: The friends and family that are left behind can face difficult times ahead coping with the death along with the financial worries if that extra income is lost to the house hold, the deceased did not have a funeral plan or insurance set in place. (more copy to come for this page)
Benefits: You may be entitled to receive some benefits when you lose a loved one within the family. A great resource for this of course in the direct.gov website where you can check your eligibility and process your claim. Here is a few of the benefits that you may be entitled to:
Bereavement Payment (One off payments of £2,000) before 6th April 2017
You may be able to get Bereavement Payment if, when your husband, wife or civil partner died, you were either:
- under State Pension age
- over State Pension age and your husband, wife or civil partner wasn’t entitled to a State Pension based on their own national insurance contributions
Additionally, your husband, wife or civil partner must have either:
- paid enough National Insurance contributions
- died because an industrial accident or disease
Bereavement Support Payment (monthly payments) after 6th April 2017
You may be able to get Bereavement Support Payment if your husband, wife or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2017.
You could be eligible if your partner either:
- paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks
- died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work
When they died you must have been:
- under State Pension age
- living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits
You can’t claim Bereavement Support Payment if you’re in prison.
Monthly payment depends on the details you submit on the payment calculator: https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
Widowed Parent’s Allowance
You may get Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) if all the following apply:
- your husband, wife or civil partner died before 6 April 2017
- you’re under State Pension age
- you’re entitled to Child Benefit for at least one child and your late husband, wife or civil partner was their parent
- your late husband, wife or civil partner paid National Insurance contributions, or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease
You may also claim WPA if you’re pregnant and your husband has died, or you’re pregnant after fertility treatment and your civil partner has died.
Bereavement Allowance (once Widowed Parent’s Allowance has ended).
You may get Bereavement Allowance if all the following apply:
- your husband, wife or civil partner died before 6 April 2017
- you were 45 or over when your husband, wife or civil partner died
- you’re under State Pension age
- your late husband, wife or civil partner paid National Insurance contributions, or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease