Widowed Parent’s Allowance is a regular payment you can get if:
- You’re under State Pension age
- Your husband, wife or civil partner had paid enough National Insurance contributions, and either
- You have at least one child you’re either getting Child Benefit for, or
- You’re expecting the child of your late husband or civil partner (including as a result of IVF) and you were living with them just before they died.
If you are affected by the High Income Child Benefit charge and have not made a claim to Child Benefit, you will need to make one if you want to receive Widowed Parent’s Allowance. Find out more about the High Income Child Benefit charge at www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge
You must claim within three months of your husband, wife or civil partner dying, or you may lose benefit.
Widowed Parent’s Allowance stops when you no longer have a dependent child. If this is within 52 weeks of your husband, wife or civil partner dying, you may be able to get Bereavement Allowance.
You have to pay tax on Widowed Parent’s Allowance.
You may also get Child Tax Credit (see page 54). This replaced the ‘child dependency increase’ payment from 6 April 2003.