Archive Website of the UK government

Overview

A Bereavement Payment is a one-off lump sum based on your late husband or wife's national insurance (NI) contributions. It used to be called Widow's Payment.

Bereavement Allowance is a regular payment, paid for 52 weeks from the bereavement, and based on your late husband or wife's NI contributions. It used to be called Widow's Pension.

Widowed Parent's Allowance is a regular payment which you may be able to get if you are a parent whose husband, wife or civil partner has died and you have a dependent child or young person (aged 16 and under 20) for whom you receive Child Benefit. It used to be called Widowed Mother's Allowance.

Bereavement Payment, Bereavement Allowance and Widowed Parent's Allowance are available in England, Scotland and Wales only.

The Bereavement Benefits link below provides more information on these payments and allowances.

• Bereavement benefits (money, tax and benefits section)

How to use this service

You can download a Bereavement Benefits pack in PDF format. The form comes with notes that will help you fill it in and tell you where to send the completed form.

You should claim straight away. If you delay you may lose benefit.

To access the form you will need a copy of Adobe Reader. Information on how to download this for free is available on the right panel of this page.

• Download 'Bereavement benefits' (PDF, 150K) Opens new window

More useful links

• Northern Ireland Social Security Agency Opens new window