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Death & Dying - Bereavement Benefits
Help with funeral Costs
If you cannot afford to pay for the funeral of someone close to you, you may be able to get help from the Social Fund with a Funeral Payment.You can only get the payment if you are on the right benefits, and it also depends on whether there is other money available for the funeral and your relationship to the person who died.
If you or your civil partner/spouse get one of these benefits:
Income Support
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance,
Pension Credit,
Housing Benefit,
Working Tax Credit with a disability or severe disability element,
you may be eligible for help with funeral costs.
To get the funeral benefit you must be either:
The partner/civil partner of the person who died, the parent of a deceased child, a close relative or friend of the person who died.
In the case of being a close relative or friend, you must be able to demonstrate that it is reasonable for you to be responsible for the funeral costs.
You will also be asked about any other money available for paying for the funeral –:
- the dead person’s estate,
- insurance policies,
- pre-paid funeral plans etc.
You apply on form SF200 which you can get from your local JobCentrePlus:
Crown House, Birch Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 4JZ
Telephone: 01902 435100
Wednesfield JobcentrePlus, 49 High Street, Wednesfield, WV11 1ST
Telephone: 01902 435800
Chapel Court JobcentrePlus, Queen Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 3AF
Telephone: 01902 435300
Molineux House, Temple Street, Wolverhampton, WV2 4AU
Telephone: 01902 482000
Textphone: 01902 482007
Or you can download the form:
www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/sf200.pdf
You can apply for the payment up to 3 months after the person has died, even if you have already paid for the funeral.
The funeral payment is paid by cheque and is usually written out to the funeral director.
Bereavement Payment
If your civil partner, partner or spouse has died, and had been paying National insurance contributions, you may be eligible for a Bereavement payment – this is a one-off untaxed payment of £2,000.You may also be eligible if you spouse/partner/civil partner’s death was caused by their job.
To be eligible, you must be under state retirement age, or your dead spouse must not have been entitled to class A state retirement benefit at the time of death, you may be entitled to a Bereavement payment.
You must have been living with your partner/civil partner/spouse at the time of death.
The payment is made directly to you.
You apply on form BB1 which you can get from Jobcentre Plus or online at:
www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/bb1_print.pdf
You must claim within 12 months of the bereavement.
Bereavement allowance
Bereavement allowance is for bereaved spouses or civil partners and may be paid for up to 52 weeks after the death of the husband/wife/civil partner.You may be able to claim Bereavement Allowance if all of the following apply:
you are a widow/er or civil partner aged 45 or over when your spouse or civil partner died, but under pension age
you are not bringing up children
your late spouse or civil partner paid National Insurance contributions, or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease
You apply on form BB1 which you can get from Jobcentre Plus or online at:
www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/bb1_print.pdf
You must apply within 3 months of the bereavement.
The amount you get depends on your age and the NI credits paid by the deceased, ranging from £28.58 per week (aged 45) to £95.25 (aged 55 up to pension age).
The amount you get may have an impact on other benefits if you are in receipt of Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Jobseeker's, or Carer’s Allowance.
If you remarry or live with someone else you are no longer eligible.
Terminal Illness Benefits
The rules for claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance (AA), and Incapacity Benefit (IB) may be different if you have a terminal illness.The ‘Special Rules’ apply if you have a terminal illness and, according to your doctor, you are not expected to live for more than 6months.
For DLA and AA you do not have to meet a qualifying period, and you are assumed to meet the requirements of the care component, and your application will be prioritised.
If you have a terminal illness you will get IB at the high long-term rate at the time you would normally be eligible for the short-term rate (usually 28 weeks)
Inheritance tax
Inheritance Tax must be paid on assets and gifts, if the assets or gifts are valued at over £325,000.The tax is payable at 40 per cent on the amount over this threshold.
You do not usually have to pay inheritance tax if you give things away to your spouse or civil partner (if you both live in the UK), charities, political parties, and some national institutions like the National Portrait Gallery, universities etc.
These rules apply whether you give this gift in your lifetime or via a Will.
Maintenance payments to someone who is “old or infirm” are also exempt.
If at least 7 years before your death, you set up a trust fund for someone who is disabled, this counts as a ‘potentially exempt transfer’. Inheritance Tax will not be paid.