KurtWilde
When my dad died she went from having a decent double income and a car to barely anything overnight. The government even demanded half my dad's last pension payment back because it went in on the Tuesday and he died on the Friday so he wasn't eligible for it.
As long as the government were informed within five days of the death, they have no legal right to demand it back:
Friends or relatives can ignore requests by the Government to return overpaid state pension payments in the event of the recipient's death, as there is no legal obligation to pay the money back.
This issue was highlighted on Twitter after Radio 4 journalist and presenter Paul Lewis responded to a tweet from a man who had just lost his mother and complained that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had asked the family to return £160.
When someone dies, their death must be registered within five days in England and Wales (unless the death is reported to a coroner), or within eight days in Scotland. The Government, in most cases, should be informed, which is usually done via the Government's 'Tell Us Once' service, run by the DWP. Although the various Government departments can also be contacted individually. (In Northern Ireland, deaths must be registered within five days and can be reported to the Government's bereavement service instead.)
Using the 'Tell Us Once' service informs all relevant departments, including the tax office and local Government offices, to cancel things on behalf of the deceased, such as benefit payments and driving licences. This process can take a little while and may be the cause of a state pension overpayment after death.
But MoneySavingExpert (MSE) has confirmed the advice given by Mr Lewis that people have no legal obligation to repay any money wrongly paid after the authorities have already been informed about a death.
www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/01/dwp-has--no-legal-power--to-force-you-to-repay-pension-or-benefi/