House Clearance Help & Advice: Financial help for the bereaved

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A death in the family is not only upsetting but also many times those left behind have problems when it comes to finding the money to pay for the cost associated with the loss such as paying for the funeral and any debts that your loved one has left behind.

Problems can be in the short term or long term but sometimes you can get financial help towards the costs associated with the funeral and for living.

If you think you might be entitled to receiving benefits then get in touch with the Social Security office who will be able to give you advice and work out if you are entitled to receiving help with the cost of the funeral. Here are some of the benefits you could be entitled to receiving and which is worth asking about.

Bereavement payment and allowance

If it is your civil partner, husband or wife that has passed away then you could be entitled to receiving bereavement payment, this is a one off tax free payment of £2,000. You have to be under the age of state pension which is 60 for women and 65 for men.

Bereavement allowance will be paid weekly and can be claimed for up to 52 weeks after the date of the death of your husband, wife or civil partner. In order to be entitled to this benefit then you have to be under the state pension age of 60 for women and 65 for men, not have any children and have paid national insurance contributions.

In order to claim either of these benefits you will be asked for details regarding your husband or wives national insurance number along with details of employment history. By doing so the office will be able to deduct how much allowance you are entitled to receiving if any.

Widowed parents allowance

You might be entitled to widowed parents allowance if you have a child or young person under the age of 20, providing that you claim child benefit.

State pension

If both husband and wife or civil partners were receiving a basic state pension before they died then you might be entitled to receive extra basic pension from the national insurance contributions. To be entitled to receiving this benefit then you must have reached state pension age, this is 60 for women and 65 for men.

You must also have paid enough national insurance contributions, usually if your record shows that you have contributed for less than 25% of your working life then you wont be entitled to receive this benefit.

You will also have to take into account when claiming benefits that some benefits will affect others you are receiving and will be taken into account when applying for other benefits.

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