Home Welfare rights
Help if you have been bereaved
Bereavement
Always get a full benefit check to determine which benefits you are entitled to and the amounts you should receive. Then, if you have been bereaved, use the checklist below for ideas of other help that may be available in order to maximise your available income.
This checklist is not intended to be a comprehensive list of the benefits or help for which you might qualify and is not a full statement of the law. Get specialist advice where appropriate.
If you need help with the cost of a funeral

Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you live in England or Wales
Check your entitlement to a funeral expenses payment.
To qualify, you or your partner must be getting a ‘qualifying benefit’ and meet other conditions.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If you live in England and the funeral is for a child or young person aged under 18, including for a child who is stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy
Check whether you can get a payment from the children’s funeral fund for England.
This can help with certain funeral expenses. It is not means-tested and you do not need to be getting a particular benefit to get it. In addition, you may qualify for a funeral expenses payment to help with certain other expenses not covered by the children's funeral fund payment.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If you live in Wales and the funeral is for a child or young person aged under 18, including for a child who is stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy
Local and community council burial and cremation fees for children under 18 are waived in Wales.
Check whether you can get a £500 payment towards the cost of the funeral.
It is not means-tested and you do not need to be getting a particular benefit to get it.
If you qualify, you may also be able to get a funeral expenses payment for certain other expenses.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.WALES:
If you live in Scotland
Check your entitlement to a funeral support payment.
To qualify, you or your partner must be getting a qualifying benefit and meet other conditions.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Children's Handbook Scotland:
CPAG in Scotland:
mygov.scot:
If your spouse, civil partner or partner has died
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If the death occurred on or after 6 April 2017
Check if you qualify for bereavement support payment (BSP).
It consists of a lump sum payment and monthly payments for a maximum of 18 months.
Following a change in the law on 9 February 2023, you may qualify for BSP if your cohabiting partner has died provided that:
    •when they died you were living together with them as if you were married or in a civil partnership; and either
    •you were pregnant or entitled to child benefit when they died; or
    •in some circumstances, you become entitled to child benefit following their death.
If you are in this situation, check if you qualify. This change is retrospective and has effect from August 2018. Prior to this date you could only qualify for bereavement support payment if it was your spouse or civil partner who had died.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
CPAG test case update:
Welfare Rights Bulletin
GOV.UK:
Legislation.gov.uk:
If the death occurred before 6 April 2017 and you have at least one dependent child or qualifying young person
Check if you qualify for widowed parent’s allowance (WPA).
Following a change in the law on 9 February 2023, you can qualify for WPA if your cohabiting partner died and, when they died, you were living together with them as if you were married or in a civil partnership, and you meet the other conditions for WPA. If you are in this situation, check if you qualify. This change is retrospective and has effect from 30 August 2018. Prior to this date you could only qualify for bereavement benefits like widowed parent's allowance if it was your spouse or civil partner who had died.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
CPAG test case update:
Welfare Rights Bulletin
GOV.UK:
Legislation.gov.uk:
If you and your late partner were a mixed age couple getting universal credit (UC)
If you are over pension age, but your late partner was not and you get UC, check your entitlement to pension credit (PC).
If you qualify for PC, try to claim it within three months of your partner’s death (and request backdating to the date of your partner’s death).
Your UC maximum amount continues to be calculated as if your partner had not died for the assessment period in which they died, and for the following two assessment periods. Any UC you get is ignored when calculating your PC entitlement.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
Age UK:
If your child has died
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you need general help and support
Child Death Helpline: 0800 282 986
Compassionate Friends Helpline: 0345 123 2304
Child Death Helpline:
The Compassionate Friends:
If you are employed
Check your entitlement to statutory parental bereavement pay (SPBP).
You may qualify if you are a bereaved parent (or the partner of a bereaved parent who was living with the parent and child) and you satisfy employment and earnings conditions. Both parents can qualify.
Note that: you can’t get SPBP for any week in which you get statutory sick pay.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you are not well enough to work and you are not entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP)
Check if you are entitled to contributory employment and support allowance.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If your baby is stillborn before you have completed 24 weeks of pregnancy
Check your entitlement to statutory sick pay or employment and support allowance (ESA).
If you or your partner already get ‘old style’ contributory ESA, check if you can top this up with income-related ESA.
Consider whether you would qualify for universal credit (UC), but see the warning below.
Description: warning-icon-v3 If you or your partner get a legacy benefit, and have not received a 'migration notice' (a migration notice is a letter telling you your legacy benefit will be ending and giving you a date by which to claim universal credit), always check whether you will be better off on UC before making a claim. This is because making a claim for UC normally ends your entitlement to legacy benefits.
Legacy benefits are:
    •income support;
    •income-based jobseeker’s allowance;
    •income-related ESA;
    •working-age housing benefit; and
    •tax credits.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If your baby has died either after 24 weeks’ pregnancy, or after being born alive before you completed 24 weeks’ pregnancy
Check your entitlement to statutory maternity pay (SMP) or maternity allowance (MA).
If you meet the qualifying conditions, you can still get SMP or MA even though your baby has died.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Check whether your partner (or the baby’s father) qualifies for statutory paternity pay (SPP).
If they meet the qualifying conditions, they can still get up to 2 weeks SPP even though the baby has died.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Check your entitlement to statutory shared parental pay.(SSPP)
In some circumstances, even though your baby has died, you and/or your partner may qualify for SSPP if you give up your SMP early, or your partner may qualify for SSPP if you give up your MA early.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If a child that you have recently adopted has died
Check your entitlement to statutory adoption pay (SAP).
If you qualify for this, it can continue to be paid for eight weeks following the death of your child.
If you have jointly adopted a child with your partner, only one of you can claim SAP but the other can apply for statutory paternity pay (SPP).
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you are not claiming SAP, check your entitlement to statutory paternity pay (SPP). You may qualify if your partner adopted the child, or you jointly adopted the child with your partner.
If you have claimed SAP, check whether your partner (or the other adoptive parent) qualifies for SSP
If the qualifying conditions are met, SPP can still be paid even though the child has died.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Check your entitlement to statutory shared parental pay.
In some circumstances, you and your partner may qualify for this if you give up your SAP early, even though your adopted child has died.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you are entitled to child benefit
If you were entitled to child benefit for a child in the week they died, you continue to be entitled to it for eight weeks, or until the Monday following what would have been their 20th birthday, if that is sooner.
If your child is born and dies in the same week, child benefit is paid for eight weeks provided you met the qualifying conditions that week.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If child disability payment was awarded for the child who has died (Scotland)
A lump sum award is paid equivalent to the amount of child disability payment awarded for the eight weeks prior to the child's death.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you get tax credits
If you are entitled to child tax credit (CTC) for a child who dies you should continue to get CTC for the child for eight weeks following the death (or up to what would have been their 20th birthday, if that is sooner).
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you are getting working tax credit (WTC) and you only qualify for the lone parent or childcare element on the basis that you or your partner were responsible for the child who has died, check that you get the correct amount of WTC. You should continue to get the same amount of WTC as you would have got had your child not died for eight weeks after the death (or up to what would have been their 20th birthday, if that is sooner).
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you get a disabled child premium in your housing benefit, income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance
If you were getting a disabled child premium for the child who has died, check whether you can continue to be get it for eight weeks following the death.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you want to check other benefit entitlements
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you are getting universal credit (UC)
If any of the following people die, your maximum amount of UC continues to be calculated as if that person had not died for the remainder of the monthly assessment period in which the death occurs, and for the next two assessment periods:
    •your partner with whom you have a joint UC claim;
    •a child for whom you are responsible;
    •a severely disabled person for whom you (or your partner in a joint claim) have regular and substantial caring responsibilities; or
    •someone who counts as a non-dependant for the purpose of the housing element.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you are getting housing benefit
If the amount of housing benefit you get would be reduced because of a rent restriction, check if the restriction can be delayed because of your bereavement.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you have been sanctioned because you have not met your work-related requirements
Check if you can challenge the sanction.
For UC and new-style jobseeker's allowance (JSA) a work search requirement cannot be imposed on you if it is less than six months since the death of:
    •your partner; or
    •your child, or a child for whom you or your partner were responsible. Child in this situation means a child under 16 (and, for UC only, a ‘qualifying young person’).
Note that:
    •In some circumstances for UC, a work search requirement also cannot be imposed on you if you are the responsible carer of a child under 16 and there has been significant disruption in your childcare responsibilities because of a bereavement.
    •If you get old-style JSA you can be treated as available for work and actively seeking work for a period if you have been bereaved.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If a child’s parents have died or in some circumstances, if one parent has died
Check if you qualify for guardian’s allowance if you are entitled to, or treated as being entitled to, child benefit for a child whose parents have died or in some circumstances, for a child when one parent has died.
You cannot qualify if you are one of the child’s parents (unless you are a step-parent or, in some circumstances, if the child has been adopted).
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
Last updated on 15 April 2024