benefit for a widow

LittleMissMolly_2

Firstly I would like to offer my condolences for your family's loss

Secondly, I work within the funeral profession so this is a situation that I unfortunately encounter fairly frequently. I'm going to go through quite a lot of information here, based on the experiences of some of my clients, so I'm going to use bullet points to make it all a bit easier for you to get through. x

* The younger children's school(s) will most likely have a Family Unit/Liason who will be able to provide free advice and maybe a degree of practical help (such as counseling for the children and possibly training opportunities for your sister in law). Give the school a ring and ask what help they might be able to offer ... it's their duty to help to support the children's education and that involves a degree of Pastoral Care.

* The one off £2k Bereavement Payment is dependent upon your brother and sister in law being legally married (only a spouse can claim) and on NI contributions paid. Given what you have told us, it is likely that your bother's NI contributions will not be sufficient to qualify - but she should apply anyway as a percentage may be due.

* Likewise the WPA is NI contribution dependent, but an application should be made anyway in case a percentage payment can be made.

* The Social Fund can offer assistance with funeral costs. It won't cover the whole funeral cost - the maximum is currently £700 + Disbursements. Disbursements are direct, third party costs that are unavoidable in order for the funeral to take place. That effectively means the cost of burial (ie the grave and interment fee) or the cost of cremation (ie doctor's fees for certification and the actual cremation cost). It excludes the cost of a vicar/ funeral celebrant as they aren't legally necessary. The payment isn't means tested as such, BUT it's only available to those in receipt of a qualifying benefit, which is effectively IS, income based JSA, ESA and Pension Credits. WPA and CTC are, unfortunately, not qualifying benefits. There is also a 3 month time limit for claims to be made, so if she needs to claim it, then she will need to get herself onto a qualifying benefit asap.

* Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are means tested, so may be claimable with WPA and CTC only, but the entitlement is not automatic - she will have to apply in order to find out if she qualifies.

So - to sum up ... Effectively, given that your sister in law will be unable to claim IS (due to the age of the children) and is unlikely to be able to claim WPA (because of the NI contribution shortfall) she is left with two choices:

* Income based JSA. Where she will be expected to look for any work intensively. Her lack of skills is not relevant as far as DWP are concerned because there is unskilled work that she can do - cleaning, retail work, call centres, waitressing etc.

* Income based ESA. Which will involve being signed off work by her doctor for depression and stress (related to her bereavement and situation). This will mean work capability assessments and she will in all likelihood only qualify for the lower level of ESA even after the first 13 weeks (which is always paid at the lower rate), because she is highly likely to fall into the 'supported' category, which aims to encourage a return to work.

I know that it all sounds rather harsh and punitive right now, but essentially no-one is entitled to be fully and unconditionally supported by the state purely because the person who previously supported them financially has died. The ESA option might buy her some time to grieve and get back on her feet, but it's not a long term solution so she is going to need to accept that going out to work is inevitable, sooner rather than later.