Financial support for Mum after death of Dad

[Galaxygirl93]

Hi

I have posted this in the money matters forum but hoping someone can also help on this board who may have more experience.

My Father has passed away very suddenly this week. He was 61, my Mother is 61 also. He worked for his whole adult life, my mother was a stay at home parent from mid eighties (giving birth to my sister), I was born 93 so was 16 in 2009 if relevant.

She did start to work again 2013/2014, but then had a blood clot in her leg in 2014, heart attack in 2018 and has just been referred again to cardiologist.

So basically I am in a flap and panicking about her pension/benefits from now. They owned their own house, they both had life insurance for funeral costs but from what I gather she will only be able to claim Universal Credit - is this right? And then pension credit from her retirement age?

I have read somewhere about National Insurance Credits for looking after children, does this help?

I get that if she is on Universal credit she may have to prove looking for employment, but who is going to employ a 61 year old woman. My sister and her children also live with her.

Thank you

So sorry for your loss.
Look on Gov.Uk for info on bereavement support payment initially. She should be entitled to some money for about 18 months as long as your father paid NI contributions.
Did she claim child benefit at all as she will have been credited her own NI contributions up until you were 12. You can also check her NI record online and if there is any money available it can be topped up to increase her state pension which she will get when she’s 67.

Did your father pay into a pension and if he did she will be entitled to some of what he would have received at retirement.

Look after yourself and your family 💐

Yes I think child benefit was claimed for all 3 children. Is that enough national insurance contributions?

I think you can claim till child is 12 with my kids the spread means 17 years ni contributions. So add difference in age youngest to eldest and add 12 for total ni years.

Hello again.
There is a section on Gov.Uk specifically for NI as well as for bereavement.
Using that you can check her NI contributions history. Having three children makes a bit of difference but if you were the youngest then she wouldn’t have received any credits after you were 12 so 2005 probably. She needs 35 years for a full pension but needs at least 10 to get some.

Try turn2us.org.uk/Benefits-Calculator to see what she’s entitled to in general.

sorry for your loss.
There is also a Government Bereavement payment that she may be able to claim
“You may be able to get Bereavement Support Payment if your husband, wife or civil partner died in the last 21 months.

You must claim within 3 months of your partner’s death to get the full amount. You can claim up to 21 months after their death but you’ll get fewer monthly payments.”

This payment links to your late dads state pension, but I’m not sure how. So please investigate, as you have to claim within 3 months.

with regard to her state pension.
I believe that anyone can buy class 3 NICS, it is allowed to go back 6 years, they are £15.85 per week and buy you whole years of contribution. You can do this if she was born after 5 April 1953, which I think she was. It is usually said that it is worth it but you will have to do the sums to see. They have a very good helpline. As someone else has said you will need a minimum of 10 qualifying years to get anything and 35 years to get max.

This is from gov.uk
You may be able to pay Class 3 voluntary National Insurance to fill gaps in your contributions record to qualify for benefits like the State Pension.

Hope you can get her some help.

Thank you

You say that your sister and her children live with your mother. Does your sister work and does your mother provide any childcare for her grandchildren. She can earn extra year’s contributions for looking after grandchildren if they are under 12. I will try and find a link for you.

Yes, my mum has cared for all us girls from birth of my oldest sister (1985) and my birth (1993), then she has cared for my niece since her birth in 2015. Is this going to be enough national insurance contributions?? I am so worried, on top of everything else.

I know she isn't even pension age yet, I an wondering if universal credit would get her by until pension age

link here

Sorry for your loss. Did your father work for an organisation/company or was he self employed? If the former then there is very likely a pension scheme or death in service benefits that your mother can access.

If your dad always worked, there's likely to be a pension or death in service benefits? Call his employer and ask to speak to their HR department, they'll be able to start you off in the right direction.

Sorry for your loss OP - also don't panic. It all takes time to sort out and there's a feeling that you need to do everything right away...

I’m sorry to hear about your dads unexpected death. I’ve fully understand your need to look at practical issues.

Claim the following. Bereavement support payment.

Whilst you wait for that to be awarded apply for UC. If bereavement payment is subsequently awarded she may not be entitled to UC. Tell UC about her health conditions. See if she can get a fit note from GP.

Consider claiming personal independence payment also.

Regarding pensions try not to worry. Set up a HMRC tax account with your mum. Check her NI contributions on there and you’ll also get a state pension forecast.

On the universal credit there are a couple of things that may help. At the start the jobcentre they should take into account that your mother has had a recent bereavement to switch off any work search for a period

Your mum can be assessed for whether she is too ill to work for the longer term if she is too ill to work

www.gov.uk/health-conditions-disability-universal-credit

Sorry should have been a link to government website

www.gov.uk/health-conditions-disability-universal-credit

Sorry link is not adding whatever I do - oh for edit

It’s here.

1.3

www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-you/draft-uc-and-you#claiming

Easement of claimant commitments

I'm sorry for your loss.
If your mum has significant ill health she may be eligible for disability benefits.
If she is able to work then that might really help her to find her way after this awful shock.
I'm not far off her age and work full time. Lots of employers welcome maturity and experience.

Thanks all.

I understood the universal credit was separate to the bereavement payment?

Universal credit will take any monthly bereavement payment into account. You need to claim both though

Did your mum work before your eldest sister was born? If so ask her how many years she worked. If your mum was born in 1961 she would have been 24 before your sister was born so it's unlikely she didn't work at all. If your sister was born in 1993 she would have started getting child benefit and if you add on the 8 years until you were born then the 12 years afterwards she should have 20 years just via her receipt of child benefits. Check her NI record and then see if she can buy extra years.