Bereavement benefits: what a surviving partner can claim
Last checked November 2026. Offers and rules change: confirm with the provider before you rely on them.
After a partner dies, the main help is Bereavement Support Payment if you are under State Pension age, a possible increase in your own State Pension if you are over it, and a Funeral Expenses Payment (Funeral Support Payment in Scotland) if you are on certain benefits and arranging the funeral. There are time limits, so check soon.
Bereavement Support Payment
This is a lump sum followed by monthly payments for up to 18 months. It is not means-tested, so your earnings and savings do not matter.
Who can get it
GOV.UK gives these conditions. When your partner died you must have been:
- under State Pension age. This is the rule that catches many of our readers: if you had already reached State Pension age when your partner died, you cannot get Bereavement Support Payment. Use our State Pension age checker if you are unsure.
- married to them or in a civil partnership with them; or living with them as if married and getting, or entitled to, Child Benefit for a child living with you, or pregnant
Your partner must also have paid enough National Insurance contributions in at least one tax year since April 1975, or died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work. If you are not sure about their contributions, claim anyway; the Bereavement Service checks.
How much
At the time of writing (November 2026), GOV.UK gives these amounts:
| Rate | First payment | Then | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower rate | £2,500 | Up to 18 monthly payments of £100 | Husbands, wives and civil partners without dependent children |
| Higher rate | £3,500 | Up to 18 monthly payments of £350 | Those getting or entitled to Child Benefit, or pregnant, when their partner died |
Time limits
- Claim within 3 months of the death to get the full amount.
- Claim within 12 months and you still get the lump sum, but miss some monthly payments.
- After 12 months you lose the lump sum, and after 21 months you usually cannot claim at all.
Claim online, by phone or by post through GOV.UK. In Northern Ireland, claim through the Bereavement Service on nidirect.
If you are over State Pension age: your State Pension
You cannot get Bereavement Support Payment, but your own State Pension may go up. What you can inherit depends on when each of you reached State Pension age and when you married, and the rules are complicated. In outline, GOV.UK says:
- If your partner was under the new State Pension rules (they reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016, or died before reaching it after that date), and you married or formed your civil partnership before 6 April 2016, you may inherit half of any "protected payment" they had. That is an extra amount some people have on top of the full new State Pension.
- If your partner reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, you may inherit part of their Additional State Pension (often called SERPS or State Second Pension).
You do not have to work this out yourself. When the death is reported, through Tell Us Once or the Bereavement Service, the Pension Service should review your pension. If you hear nothing, phone the Pension Service and ask. See inheriting State Pension from a spouse or civil partner on GOV.UK.
Help with funeral costs
Funeral Expenses Payment (England and Wales)
If you are responsible for arranging the funeral and you get certain means-tested benefits, including Pension Credit, you may get a Funeral Expenses Payment. GOV.UK says it can help with:
- burial fees for a particular plot, or cremation fees including the doctor's certificate
- up to £1,000 towards other costs such as funeral director's fees, a coffin and flowers, at the time of writing (November 2026). If there was a pre-paid funeral plan, this is up to £120 for items the plan does not cover.
It rarely covers the whole bill, and it is normally recovered from the estate of the person who died if there is money in it. You must claim within 6 months of the funeral, and you can claim before it takes place if you have the funeral director's invoice or signed contract. See Funeral Expenses Payment on GOV.UK.
Scotland
Funeral Support Payment, from Social Security Scotland, has replaced Funeral Expenses Payment. It helps people living in Scotland who are on certain benefits and are responsible for a funeral, and usually does not cover the full cost. Amounts depend on the circumstances; see Funeral Support Payment on mygov.scot for who can apply and by when.
Northern Ireland
The equivalent is claimed through the Bereavement Service. See Funeral Expenses Payments on nidirect.
Check your other entitlements
A death changes household income, and with it what you can claim.
- Pension Credit. You may newly qualify on a single income. See Pension Credit.
- Council Tax. If you now live alone, ask for the 25% single person discount, and check Council Tax Reduction.
Our benefits checklist lists everything worth checking, and Citizens Advice or Age UK can do a full benefits check with you free.
Common questions
We were not married. Can I claim anything?
Bereavement Support Payment is only open to unmarried partners who had dependent children or were pregnant. State Pension cannot be inherited by an unmarried partner. You may still qualify for means-tested benefits in your own right, and for a survivor's pension from a workplace scheme if you were nominated.
Is Bereavement Support Payment taxed?
No, you do not pay tax on it. It can affect means-tested benefits after a time, so ask the Bereavement Service or Citizens Advice how it applies to you.
What if there is no money for a funeral at all?
If nobody is able to arrange or pay for a funeral, the local council (or the hospital, in some cases) has a duty to arrange a simple one. Speak to the council's bereavement or environmental health team.