Many aspects of the state benefit system are complicated and bereavement benefits are no exception, but if you don’t claim benefits within the time limits you could lose out.

Dealing with the emotions of losing someone close to you can be incredibly difficult, but if you’ve lost your husband or partner, there are bound to be financial as well as emotional consequences of their death. If you were married or in a civil partnership, you will be entitled to some bereavement benefits, but if you were living together – the sad fact is – you’re likely to lose out. But many women who are entitled to bereavemement benefits following the death of their husband or civil partner aren’t aware of the benefits that are available.

Bereavement benefits
There are several different bereavement benefits available to you if you live in England, Scotland or Wales and whether you’re entitled to any of them will depend on how much National Insurance your husband or civil partner has paid, not on your (or their) income. A useful place to start for information about all kinds of bereavement benefits is the government’s Directgov website.

SAVVY TIP: With all these benefits, if you ring up to make a claim you will be asked your husband or civil partner’s National Insurance number so that the office can work out if he or she has made enough NI payments. You can also download a claim pack online. The form (called BB1) will give you details of where to send it.

I’ve decided to concentrate on the three most important benefits: Bereavement Allowance, Bereavement Payment and Widowed Parent’s Allowance. I’ve also covered help with funeral payments in the article entitled what to do when someone dies which is elsewhere in this section.

Bereavement Allowance: This is a taxable weekly benefit that you can claim for up to a year after your husband or civil partner’s death (men can also claim it if their wife dies).

You can claim Bereavement Allowance if:

• You’re aged between 45 and state pension age, which is increasing from 60 to 65 for women from April 6th this year (and which is 65 for men).

• Your husband or partner has made enough National Insurance contributions.

SAVVY TIP: If your husband or civil partner died as the result of an industrial accident or disease you automatically receive bereavement allowance – whether or not they had paid enough National Insurance to qualify.

• The amount you get depends on your age at the time your husband or civil partner died. For example, if you were aged 45, you’d receive up to £29.30 a week but if you were aged 55 you’d receive £97.65 a week (the amount will depend on your husband or civil partner’s NI contribution record).

• The benefit can only be backdated in full for up to three months from the date of your husband or civil partner’s death. If you put your claim in later, you’ll still receive the benefit, but not necessarily your full entitlement.

You cannot claim this benefit if:

• You’re bringing up a child or children (and where you’re receiving child benefit for at least one child).

• You were divorced from your husband or your civil partnership had dissolved at the time of their death.

• You remarried or you were living with someone else (and even if the relationship later fails during the 52 weeks that Bereavement Allowance is paid for, you’re still not able to claim.

• You were living with your partner at the time of his or her death and were not married or in a civil partnership.

SAVVY TIP: There’s more information about Bereavement Allowance on the government’s Directgov website. You can also find out about Bereavement Allowance on the Citizens Advice website.

Bereavement Payment: This is a one-off tax-free lump sum payment of £2,000.

• You can claim this benefit if your husband or partner had paid enough National Insurance contributions or their death was caused by their job (as with Bereavement Allowance).

• You can claim if you were under state pension age (which is gradually increasing from 60 to 65 for women and is 65 for men) when your husband or civil partner died.

• You cannot claim this payment if your husband or partner was entitled to a full state pension based on their own NI contributions when they died.

SAVVY TIP: If you don’t claim this benefit within 12 months you lose the right to claim it forever. There’s more information about Bereavement Payment on the Directgov website.

Widowed Parent’s Allowance: This benefit, worth up to £97.65 a week, is payable if you have at least one child you’re receiving child benefit for and you’re under state pension age, which is increasing from 60 to 65 for women from April 6th this year (and which is 65 for men).

You cannot claim if:

• You are not bringing up at least one child who you are receiving child benefit for.

• You were divorced from your husband or your civil partnership had dissolved at the time of their death.

• You remarried or you were living with someone else.

• You were living with your partner at the time of his or her death and were not married or in a civil partnership.

SAVVY TIP If you want help with bereavement benefits, get in touch with a charity such as Age UK (formed by a merger of Help the Aged and Age Concern) or a specialist charity such as Macmillan, which helps relatives of those who have or have had cancer as well as people diagnosed with the disease. It has a telephone advice line on 0808 808 0000, which is open Monday to Friday and which will give you advice tailor made to your circumstances.