Money after your partner dies: Bereavement Support Payment and the help you can claim
What Bereavement Support Payment is, who can get it and the deadline that matters, plus the Council Tax change, pensions and where to get free advice.
Written by
Nick Begley
Reviewed by
Julia Samuel MBE
In this article
Key takeaways
- Bereavement Support Payment is for people who were married, in a civil partnership, or living together with children when their partner died, and who are under State Pension age.
- The higher rate is a one-off £3,500 plus 18 monthly payments of £350. The lower rate is £2,500 plus 18 payments of £100.
- Claim within 3 months of the death to get the full amount. After that you get less, and after 21 months usually nothing.
- If you now live alone, you can usually get 25% off your Council Tax. Apply to your council.
- Money fear after a death is common, physical and nothing to be ashamed of. Free, independent advice exists, and using it is a sensible first step.
We hear about money far more than people expect. Grief always comes first. But in the weeks after a death, the fear of how you'll manage often sits right underneath everything else, especially at night. If that's you, you're not being mercenary and you're not grieving "wrongly". Losing a partner often means losing an income, a way of running a household, and the person you worked things out with, all on the same day.
Why money worry feels so overwhelming right now
Grief puts the body into a state of threat. Julia describes it in the programme in a way many of our members find strangely comforting:
You may recognise this state of being constantly flustered and jumpy, unable to sleep and unwind. The body keeps us on edge, waiting for a tiger that isn't there!
— Julia Samuel MBE, Grief Works programme, Session 5: Soothing fear
With money, the tiger is sometimes real. Bills do arrive. But a nervous system already on high alert makes every letter feel like an emergency. The practical answer and the physical answer go together: get the facts written down, and then do something that calms your body before you make any decisions.
Bereavement Support Payment: who can claim
You may be able to get Bereavement Support Payment if your partner died and, at the time of the death, you were:
- married to them, in a civil partnership with them, or living with them as if you were married
- under State Pension age
If you were living together without being married or in a civil partnership, one of these must also apply:
- you were getting Child Benefit for a child who lived with you
- you'd been told by the Child Benefit Office that you were entitled to Child Benefit
- you were pregnant
Your partner must also have paid a certain amount of National Insurance contributions in any one tax year since 6 April 1975, or have died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work.
How much you get, and the deadline
- Higher rate: a one-off payment of £3,500, then 18 monthly payments of £350
- Lower rate: a one-off payment of £2,500, then 18 monthly payments of £100
You get the higher rate if you were getting Child Benefit or were pregnant when your partner died. If you were married or in a civil partnership without those, you get the lower rate. If you were living together as if married, you get the higher rate.
How to claim, and when
- Claim within 3 months of the death to get the one-off payment and all 18 monthly payments.
- Claim between 3 and 12 months and you still get the one-off payment, but fewer monthly payments.
- Claim between 12 and 21 months and you get monthly payments only.
- After 21 months you usually can't get anything.
- Check the current claim routes on GOV.UK ("Bereavement Support Payment: how to claim"), or ask the DWP Bereavement Service when you use Tell Us Once.
Council Tax: 25% off if you now live alone
If you are now the only adult (18 or over) living in your home, you can usually get 25% off your Council Tax. It isn't automatic. Contact your local council, tell them you're now the only occupier and the date that changed. If your partner was getting a discount of their own, it stops from the date of death, so you may receive a revised bill. It's worth applying straight away.
Pensions, life insurance and help with funeral costs
- State Pension. Contact the Pension Service. Depending on your ages and when you each reached State Pension age, you may be able to inherit or increase part of your State Pension through your partner's record.
- Workplace and private pensions. Tell Us Once doesn't reach these. Contact each scheme directly: many pay a lump sum or an ongoing pension to a surviving partner, and they'll tell you what they need.
- Life insurance. Call the insurer as early as you can with the policy number and a death certificate. Ask them how long their process usually takes, so you can plan around it.
- Funeral costs. If you're on certain benefits, you may be able to get a Funeral Expenses Payment (Funeral Support Payment in Scotland). Check the eligibility on GOV.UK before you commit to costs.
Where to get free, independent advice
We're not financial advisers, and for something this important you should speak to people who are. These are free:
- Citizens Advice can help with benefits, debt and your rights, locally or by phone
- MoneyHelper, the government-backed service for free money and pensions guidance
- Cruse Bereavement Support is there for the grief underneath the money worry (0808 808 1677)
A 20-minute plan for a money-panic evening
- Put every letter in one pile. Don't open anything new tonight.
- On one sheet of paper, write three columns: Due soon, Can wait, Don't know.
- Put each letter in a column. Most will be "Can wait".
- Write down one call to make tomorrow, and who could sit with you while you make it.
- Then close the pile and do five minutes of slow breathing, making the out-breath longer than the in-breath.
How Grief Works can help
Session 5 of the Grief Works programme, Soothing fear, is built around exactly this state of alarm, and the calming breathing tool is short enough to use at the kitchen table with the bills in front of you. The programme's Practicalities guide covers the admin of a death, and our counsellors are available by 1-to-1 chat from 9am to 9pm every day.
Common questions
Who can claim Bereavement Support Payment?
How much is Bereavement Support Payment?
Do I get a Council Tax discount after my partner dies?
How we wrote and reviewed this article
This article was written by Nick Begley and reviewed for care, accuracy and tone by Julia Samuel MBE. Every quote from Julia is taken word for word from her books, the Grief Works programme, her writing or recorded sessions.
Sources
- GOV.UK, "Bereavement Support Payment": eligibility; what you'll get; claim time limits, accessed 15 September 2026
- Local council guidance on the single person Council Tax discount after a death (e.g. Islington, Rother, Harrow councils), accessed 15 September 2026
- Julia Samuel, Grief Works programme, Session 5: Soothing fear
Article history
- 17 September 2026: Updated and reviewed by Julia Samuel MBE
- 20 August 2026: Published
About the authors
Written by
Nick Begley
Co-founder and Head of Research, Grief Works
Co-founder of Grief Works and former Head of Research at Headspace, a digital mental-health specialist whose tools have helped millions.
Reviewed by
Julia Samuel MBE
Psychotherapist and co-creator of Grief Works
One of the world's most respected grief psychotherapists, with over 35 years' experience. Former Vice President of the BACP, MBE for services to the bereaved, Founder Patron of Child Bereavement UK, and bestselling author of Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass.
