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Friday, 9 January 2009

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Money, tax and benefits

Bereavement Allowance

After you're widowed you may be able to claim Bereavement Allowance, the taxable weekly benefit paid to you for up to 52 weeks from the date of death of your husband, wife or civil partner.

Who can claim?

You may be able to claim Bereavement Allowance if all of the following apply:

you're a widow, widower or surviving civil partner aged 45 or over when your husband, wife or civil partner died
you're not bringing up children
you're under State Pension age (currently 60 for women and 65 for men)
your late husband, wife or civil partner paid National Insurance contributions (NICs), or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease

National Insurance contributions and Bereavement Allowance

When you fill in the claim form you'll be asked to give your late husband's, wife's or civil partner's National Insurance number and details of their recent employment history.

This will allow the office that deals with your claim to look into their National Insurance record and work out how much - if any - Bereavement Allowance you might get.

National Insurance

Who can’t claim?

You can't claim Bereavement Allowance if:

you were divorced from your late husband or wife at the time of their death
your civil partnership was dissolved at the time of your civil partner's death
you're living with another person as if you are married to them or as if you have formed a civil partnership
you're in prison

If you were over State Pension age when you were widowed or became a surviving civil partner you may get extra State Pension based on your late husband's, wife's or civil partner's NICs.

If you're widowed below State Pension age and you have a dependent child you can claim Widowed Parent's Allowance. But you can't get Widowed Parents Allowance and Bereavement Allowance at the same time.

Widowed Parent's Allowance

How much do you get?

Your age at your partner or civil partner's death	Maximum weekly rate (2008-2009)
45 years old	£27.21
46 years old	£33.56
47 years old	£39.91
48 years old	£46.26
49 years old	£52.61
50 years old	£58.96
51 years old	£65.30
52 years old	£71.65
53 years old	£78.00
54 years old	£84.35
55 years old to State Pension age	£90.70

The actual amount you may get depends on:

the overall level of your partner or civil partner's National Insurance contributions (NICs)
your age at the time of his or her death
if relevant, when your Widowed Parent’s Allowance stops, and this is within 52 weeks of your bereavement, you may be able to get Bereavement Allowance. This will depend on your age at the time you were bereaved.

How it's paid

Bereavement Allowance is paid directly into your bank, building society, Post Office® or National Savings account that accepts Direct Payment.

If you're blind or need someone who cares for you to collect the money, you can be sent a cheque to cash at the Post Office®.

Effect on other benefits

Once you get Bereavement Allowance, your payments may change if you're already getting any of the following benefits:

Income Support
Incapacity Benefit
Jobseeker's Allowance
Carer's Allowance

Your Jobcentre Plus or social security office that deals with your claim will explain how this works.

How to claim

You can order a Bereavement Benefits claim pack, Form BB1 over the telephone from your nearest Jobcentre Plus or social security office. The pack also has help notes on how to complete the claim form.

Contact Jobcentre Plus Opens new window

Download a claim form to print off and fill in

Or you can download the form from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) website.

Once you've completed the form, send it to your nearest Jobcentre Plus or social security office as soon as possible.

Claims can only be backdated three months and are dated when the office gets them, so if you delay you may lose benefit.

What to do if your circumstances change

If you remarry, or start living with someone as if married to them you will no longer qualify for Bereavement Allowance. In this case you must tell the office that deals with your payments.

Change of circumstances: letting your Tax Office know

What else you need to know

You’ll need to prove your identity when making a claim. You’ll also have to answer questions about your circumstances and show official documents to support the information.