Bereavement Support
Bereavement Support Benefit is designed to provide financial aid to those struggling to fund the immediate costs caused by the death of a spouse or civil partner. For this support you do not need to be receiving any benefits, but you need to be under the state pension age when your civil partner or spouse died and you need to have been a resident in the UK at the time of death. You must also ensure that your spouse or civil partner paid the minimum amount of Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions during their working life.
There are two rates that you can apply for, these are the Standard Rate and Higher Rate.
Standard Rate
The standard rate will provide you with an initial payment of up to £2,500 and 18 monthly instalments of £100. This rate is suitable for you if you were not pregnant or did not have a dependant child from your spouse or civil partner at the time of their death.
Higher Rate
If you were pregnant or you have dependent children at the date of your spouse’s or civil partner’s death you could be eligible for an initial payment of up to £3,500 and 18 monthly payments of £350
It is important to note that in order to receive the monthly payments you must apply for this support within three months of the death. After the three months you have 12 months to apply to be eligible for the initial payments and if you apply after 21 months your payments will be reduced even further.