Widow's pension UK: what replaced it and what you can claim now

How much is a widows pension?

The modern equivalent of the widow's pension, Bereavement Support Payment, pays up to £9,800: a £3,500 lump sum followed by 18 monthly payments of £350 on the higher rate. The standard rate pays up to £4,300: a £2,500 lump sum followed by 18 monthly payments of £100.

• Higher rate: first payment £3,500, monthly payment £350, duration 18 months, maximum total £9,800

• Standard rate: first payment £2,500, monthly payment £100, duration 18 months, maximum total £4,300

You get the higher rate if you were receiving Child Benefit, were entitled to it, or were pregnant when your partner died. The standard rate applies to everyone else who qualifies.

Both rates are unchanged for 2026/27. The amounts have been frozen since Bereavement Support Payment launched in 2017, so their real value has fallen over time. There is no widow's pension top-up to make up the difference.

What happened to the widows pension?

The widow's pension was abolished in two stages of reform. In 2001 the original widow's benefits were replaced by Bereavement Allowance, Widowed Parent's Allowance and a one-off Bereavement Payment. For deaths on or after 6 April 2017, those three were themselves replaced by a single benefit, Bereavement Support Payment (GOV.UK). The aim was to make support simpler and to focus it on the period straight after a death.

The old name has stuck in everyday use, which is why people still search for it. If you are recently bereaved, the benefit you are looking for is almost certainly Bereavement Support Payment, not a widow's pension.

Bereavement Support Payment is tax-free and is not means-tested, so your earnings and savings do not affect your claim. Our full guide covers the detail: Bereavement Support Payment.

Who is eligible for Bereavement Support Payment?

You can claim Bereavement Support Payment if your husband, wife or civil partner died, you were under State Pension age at the time, and you were living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits. Since 9 February 2023, cohabiting partners who were not married or in a civil partnership can also claim, provided they were living together and responsible for a child at the time of the death.

Your late partner must also have met a National Insurance condition. Either the person who died paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks in one tax year at some point in their working life, or they died from an accident at work or a disease caused by work. Where the death was caused by their job, the National Insurance record does not matter.

You cannot claim if you were divorced from the person who died, or if you are in prison. Reaching State Pension age also rules out Bereavement Support Payment, though you may be able to inherit part of your late partner's State Pension instead.

What counts as living together for a cohabiting claim

Cohabiting partners qualify where they were living together as if married and were responsible for a child at the time of the death. The rule changed on 9 February 2023, after the previous restriction to married couples and civil partners was found to be unlawful. Before that date, an unmarried partner could not claim at all.

You do not need shared finances or a joint tenancy to count as living together, but you do need to have been in a genuine ongoing relationship in the same household. The child element is the key condition: you must have been getting Child Benefit for a child you had with the deceased, have been pregnant at the time of the death, or be responsible for a child who lived with you. Claims that became possible because of the 2023 change can in some cases be backdated, so take advice if your partner died in the years just before it.

How do you claim a widows pension now?

You claim Bereavement Support Payment online, by phone or by post. Apply online at gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment, call the Bereavement Service on 0800 151 2012, or complete form BSP1 and post it. If you use the government's Tell Us Once service when you register the death, it can start the claim for you, which is the simplest route for most people.

Timing matters more than most people realise. Claim within 3 months of the death to receive the full entitlement. You can still claim up to 21 months after the death, but you lose one monthly payment for every month you claim beyond the first 3. The first payment is still available for the whole 21-month window.

Have the deceased's National Insurance number, your own National Insurance number and your bank details ready. Payments go into your bank account, with the first payment usually arriving within a few weeks of a successful claim.

Common reasons a claim is refused or reduced

The most common reason a Bereavement Support Payment claim is refused is that the claimant had reached State Pension age when their partner died. The next is that the late partner did not meet the National Insurance condition and the death was not caused by their work. Being divorced from the person who died also rules out a claim, as does being in prison.

Claiming late is the most common reason a claim is reduced rather than refused. Every month you wait beyond the first 3 costs one monthly payment, so a claim made a year after the death loses a large part of the monthly instalments even though it still pays the lump sum.

Is Bereavement Support Payment taxed or counted as income?

Bereavement Support Payment is tax-free, and it is ignored for your other benefits for 12 months from the first payment. During that first year it does not reduce Universal Credit, tax credits, Housing Benefit or other means-tested benefits, so claiming it does not cost you elsewhere.

After 12 months, money from Bereavement Support Payment that you have saved rather than spent can start to count towards the savings limits on means-tested benefits. Savings above £6,000 begin to affect means-tested benefits, and savings above £16,000 usually end them. If you are on Universal Credit or another income-related benefit, this is worth planning for.

What if your partner died before 6 April 2017?

Different benefits apply for deaths before 6 April 2017, and some people are still receiving them. The main one is Widowed Parent's Allowance, a weekly payment for a surviving parent with dependent children. Widowed Parent's Allowance is closed to new claims, but people already receiving it continue under the old rules until their circumstances change. For 2026/27 the maximum rate of Widowed Parent's Allowance is £156.65 a week.

Bereavement Allowance and the original Widow's Pension worked in a similar way and are also closed to new claims. If your partner died before April 2017 and you never claimed at the time, take advice quickly, because the rules and any transitional entitlement depend on your specific dates.

Can you inherit your partner's State Pension?

You may be able to inherit part of your late husband, wife or civil partner's State Pension, separately from any bereavement benefit. This is where some of the old widow's pension idea survives, but the rules are now limited and depend on which State Pension system applied to your partner.

Under the new State Pension, which applies to people who reached State Pension age from 6 April 2016, the full rate is £241.30 a week for 2026/27. You cannot inherit any of your partner's basic new State Pension. The only part you may inherit is half of a protected payment, an addition some people built up before April 2016 (GOV.UK explains the rules on inheriting State Pension from a spouse or civil partner). Many people have no protected payment at all, so there may be nothing to inherit.

Under the old State Pension, the rules are more generous, and a surviving spouse can often inherit a larger share based on their partner's National Insurance record. You cannot inherit anything if you remarried or formed a new civil partnership before reaching State Pension age. To find out exactly what applies, contact the Pension Service, which can check your partner's record.

Private and workplace pensions are different again. Many pay a survivor's pension or a lump sum to a spouse or nominated beneficiary, and these are not automatic, so you claim them from each scheme. Our guide on what happens to a pension when someone dies explains how survivor benefits work. If you think there may be an old workplace pension you cannot trace, the Pension Tracing Service finds the scheme's contact details for free.

What is the War Widow's or Widower's Pension?

The War Widow's or Widower's Pension is a separate, tax-free scheme for people whose husband, wife or civil partner died as a result of service in the Armed Forces (GOV.UK). It is not part of the DWP bereavement benefits above and is not affected by Bereavement Support Payment. Claims go to Veterans UK rather than the Bereavement Service, along with survivor benefits under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. If your partner's death was connected to military service, check whether you qualify, because these payments can be made in addition to other support.

What other support can you claim?

Bereavement benefits are not the only help available to a widow or widower. If you or your partner were receiving certain income-related benefits, a Funeral Expenses Payment can help with the cost of the funeral (GOV.UK). Typical prices, and the cheaper options, are set out in how much does a funeral cost in the UK. Universal Credit may provide ongoing support where income has dropped, and you may be entitled to a reduction in Council Tax.

If you are bringing up a child whose parent has died and you are not their parent, Guardian's Allowance may apply.

If your partner was employed, check whether their job included a death in service benefit, which is usually a tax-free lump sum paid by the employer's scheme. If you are employed yourself, you may be entitled to paid time away from work, which we cover in bereavement leave.

If you are unsure which benefits apply to you, the DWP Bereavement Service on 0800 151 2012 can confirm your entitlement before you assume you do not qualify.