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Bereavement Benefits
With the exception of the Bereavement Payment, these are income replacement benefits (see Introduction) and cannot be paid at the same time and to the same person as any other income replacement benefit.
Bereavement Payment is a one-off lump-sum payment for widows, woidowers and pereaved civil partners of working age. It is not an income replacement benefit, so it can be paid in addidtion to other benefits. Generally it must be claimed within a year of the death.
Widowed Parents Allowance is an income replacement benefit for widows, widowers and bereaved civil partners of working age who have at least one dependant child or for widows or bereaved civil partners who are pregnant. It remains payable until the youngest child stops qualifying for Child Benefit. It also stops if the client remarries or enters into a civil partnership and is suspended during any period in which the client is cohabiting. The claim may be made at any time after the spouses's death but, generally, only 3 months' backdating is paid.
Bereavement Allowance is an income replacement benefit for widows, widowers and bereaved civil partners of working age and is paid for a period of 52 weeks only after the death. The client must have been over 45 when the spouse or civil partner died and must generally claim within 3 months of the death. If Widowed Parents Allowance stops within a year of the death, it may be possible to claim Bereavement Allowance for the rest of the year.
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