Widowed Parent's Allowance

Eligibility

Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) has been replaced by Bereavement Support Payment. If you already get WPA, your payments will continue until you are no longer eligible.

You can only make a new claim for WPA if your partner died before 6 April 2017.

All the following must also apply:

• you are under State Pension age 
• you’re entitled to Child Benefit for at least one child 
• you and your partner were married, in a registered civil partnership, or living together as though you were married
• your partner satisfied the contribution conditions, or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease you may have to confirm the cause of death

You may also claim WPA if you were pregnant when your partner died, or you became pregnant through fertility treatment after your partner died.

If you were not married or in a civil partnership, you may get a backdated payment if you were eligible for WPA on or after 30 August 2018.

You cannot claim WPA if you:

• were divorced from your husband, wife or civil partner when they died
• have remarried or are living with another person as if you’re married to them or as if you’ve formed a civil partnership
• were over State Pension age when your partner died – you may be able to get extra State Pension
• are in prison

How much you will get

The amount you get is based on how much of the contribution condition your partner satisfied. The maximum basic Widowed Parent’s Allowance is £139.10 a week.

If your partner died as a result of an industrial accident or disease, you may claim WPA even if they did not satisfy the National Insurance contribution conditions.

You’ll continue to get WPA until you either:

• stop being entitled to Child Benefit
• reach State Pension age
• you marry, remarry or form a civil partnership
• you start to live with a partner as husband or wife, or as if you had formed a civil partnership

How WPA is paid

WPA is usually paid into your bank, building society or credit union account.

Effect on other benefits

Other benefit payments you get, or received in the past, may change when you start claiming WPA.

Once you get WPA, you must report it if you’re getting any of the following:

• Income Support
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit

This list is not exhaustive

If you do not report changes straight away, you could be paid the wrong amount and have to pay it back. You might also have to pay a fine.

The benefit cap

The benefit cap limits the total amount of benefit you can get. It applies to most people aged 16 or over who have not reached State Pension age.

Some individual benefits are not affected, but it may affect the total amount of benefit you get.

Backdated (retrospective) payments

If you lived with your partner but were not married or in a civil partnership, you may be owed a backdated payment of WPA. This is sometimes called a ‘retrospective payment’.

To qualify, you must have been:

• entitled to Child Benefit at the time of your partner’s death

and

• entitled to Child Benefit at or from 30 August 2018

You must also meet the other eligibility criteria for WPA.

You must make your WPA claim before 9 February 2024 to get a backdated payment.

How backdated WPA payments affect your taxes

You may need to pay Income Tax on your backdated payment.

If you pay tax through Pay As You Earn (PAYE), any money you owe will be taken from your other income automatically.

If you pay tax through Self Assessment (for example, if you’re self-employed) you need to declare your backdated WPA payment.

You must either:

• report it on your self-assessment tax return
• contact HMRC to include it on previous tax returns

How benefits affect the amount of WPA you will receive

Your backdated payment may be lower if you got any of the following benefits while you were eligible for WPA:

• Income Support
• Incapacity Benefit
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit

If you got Universal Credit while you were eligible for WPA, you may have been overpaid. This means you might need to pay back some money. You must report your backdated WPA payment via your Universal Credit journal.

How to claim

To claim, phone Widowed Parent's Allowance on freephone 0800 085 2463 and select option 3. You can also download an application form

If you disagree with a decision

You can challenge a decision about your claim. This is called asking for ‘mandatory reconsideration’.

​What to do if your circumstances change

You must tell the Bereavement Benefits section if your circumstances change, for example:

• you stop being entitled to Child Benefit
• you marry, remarry or form a civil partnership
• you start to live with a partner as husband or wife, or as if you had formed a civil partnership

If you’ve been paid too much

You may have to repay the money if you:

• did not report a change straight away
• gave wrong information
• were overpaid by mistake

Find out how to repay the money you owe from benefit overpayment.

More useful links

• Bereavement
• Support for children and young people  - Cruse Bereavement Care
• Making a will