Bereavement Support Payment, in plain English
Losing a husband, wife or civil partner is devastating, and money is usually the last thing anyone wants to think about in the first weeks. Bereavement Support Payment exists for that difficult period. It is a UK benefit paid to a surviving spouse, civil partner, or partner who was living with the person who died as if they were married. It is not a salary replacement and it does not last for years. It is a lump sum followed by monthly payments for up to 18 months, designed to ease the immediate financial shock while a household adjusts to a single income, new bills, and unfamiliar paperwork.
Bereavement Support Payment in one paragraph
If your partner died on or after 6 April 2017, you were under State Pension age when they died, you were living in the UK or in a country that pays bereavement benefits, and your partner had paid enough National Insurance contributions (or died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work), you may be able to claim. The most you can get is a one-off payment of £3,500 followed by 18 monthly payments of £350 on the higher rate, or a one-off payment of £2,500 followed by 18 monthly payments of £100 on the lower rate. The payment is not means-tested, so your earnings and savings do not affect it, and it is tax-free. To get the full amount you must usually claim within 3 months of the death. You can usually still claim up to 21 months after the death, but the amount falls the later you claim.
Three features surprise most people. First, the benefit is not means-tested at all. Many people assume that a comfortable income or a reasonable amount of savings will rule them out. For this payment, they do not. Second, since 9 February 2023, partners who were living together as if they were married have also been able to claim, subject to conditions explained on the who qualifies page. Before that date the benefit was closed to unmarried couples. Third, timing matters more than almost anything else. The difference between claiming in the first 3 months and claiming after 12 months is not a small administrative detail: after 12 months the lump sum is usually lost altogether, as the backdating page explains.
The two rates at a glance
| Rate | One-off payment | Monthly payments | Most you can get in total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher rate | £3,500 | £350 for up to 18 months | £9,800 |
| Lower rate | £2,500 | £100 for up to 18 months | £4,300 |
These totals are simple arithmetic: £3,500 plus 18 payments of £350 is £9,800, and £2,500 plus 18 payments of £100 is £4,300. They are the maximum amounts for a claim made promptly, before State Pension age cuts the monthly run short. They are not a promise about any individual claim. Whether you get the higher or the lower rate depends on Child Benefit and pregnancy at the time of the death, or on whether you were living together as if married, as set out on the rates and duration page. If you reach State Pension age within 18 months of the death, you may get fewer monthly payments.
What this site covers, in order
Start with what it is for the history of the benefit and what it replaced. Who qualifies works through each condition in turn, including residence, the National Insurance condition, and the rule that you cannot claim while in prison. Rates and duration explains the two rates and the 18-month run. Backdating explains the 3, 12 and 21 month windows with labelled worked examples. Children covers Child Benefit, pregnancy, and what happens if Child Benefit was in your late partner's name. Other benefits explains the one-year rule under which the payment does not affect your other benefits, and what changes after that year. How to claim is the practical step-by-step guide. If refused covers challenges, appeals, and scams. Funeral costs explains the separate Funeral Expenses Payment. The FAQ answers the questions people ask most.
This site is written for people who are grieving, and for family members and friends helping them. Figures are taken from GOV.UK as checked on 25 October 2026; the Department for Work and Pensions decides a concrete case.
Sources: GOV.UK, Bereavement Support Payment (eligibility, what you will get, how to claim), checked 25 October 2026; DWP Bereavement Support Payment claim notes; House of Commons Library, Bereavement Support Payment (CBP-7887).