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Widow's Pension is payable to childless widows aged 45 or over when their husband died. This pension is payable to widows whose late husband died before 9/4/2001.
Widow's Pension is also payable to widows with children when their Widowed Mother's Allowance ends.
There are various rates of pension payable.
Who can get Widow's Pension?A woman can get Widow's Pension if her late husband met the National Insurance Contribution conditions and either:
- she was 45 or over when her husband died and he died before 9/4/2001 and she does not get Widowed Mother's Allowance; or
- she is 45 or over when her Widowed Mother's Allowance ends.
A woman cannot get Widow's Pension:
- if she is divorced from her husband; or
- if she remarries; or
- while she is living with a man as his wife without being legally married to him; or
- while she is in prison or held in legal custody.
Widow's Pension is made up of:
- a basic pension which is related to the widow's age when she was widowed or when Widowed Mother's allowance ends; and
- a variable earnings-related additional state pension which is based on the late husband's contribution record paid on his earnings from April 1978.
Providing her late husband has made sufficient National Insurance Contributions, a woman who is aged 55 or over when she is widowed prior to 9/4/2001, or when her Widowed Mother's Allowance ends, will get the full rate of basic pension. If she is under 55 she will get less than the full rate. If she is between 45 and 54 she will qualify for a percentage of the full rate. This percentage is fixed and does not increase with each birthday.
Effective from 05 April 2010
£97.65 Basic Pension
Age-related pension (the figure age in brackets refers to women widowed before 11 April 1988)
£90.81 54 (49)
£83.98 53 (48)
£77.14 52 (47)
£70.31 51 (46)
£63.47 50 (45)
£56.64 49 (44)
£49.80 48 (43)
£42.97 47 (42)
£36.13 46 (41)
£29.30 45 (40)
Widows Pension is paid by direct payment into an account weekly, four weekly or thirteen weekly.
Effect of capital and other incomeWidow's Pension is payable regardless of capital and is not affected by the widow working.
These benefits are reduced by the amount of Widow's Pension being paid:
Widow's Pension is taken into account in assessing the following:
What is changing?
The upper age limit for receipt of Windows Benefit (65) will increase with the extension of State Pension age from 65 to 68 between 2024 and 2046 This relates to women who have become eligible for Widows Benefit on cessation of Widowed Mother's Allowance prior to 2024
These benefits do not affect the payment of Widow's Benefits:
Widow reaches pensionable ageWhen a widow reaches pensionable age she will get a basic State Retirement Pension of at least the same amount as her basic Widow's Pension.
If a customer does not understand or disagrees with a decision, they can ask for an explanation and/or that the decision be looked at again. They also have the right of appeal.
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