Widow with 2 children

alexlondon81

Hi, a friend of mine recently lost her husband, she has twins, a girl and a boy aged 6. The boy is disable as well, the government has stopped her universal credit as now the life insurance has paid the mortgage and the husband place of work has giving her some money, she is alone with no family and is worried the money will finish soon. I think she still receives some money for disability and also she works part time.. any advice??

tacpot12

You can help her by helping her make a budget so she can see how long the money will last. She can start claiming Universal Credit again when her savings drop below £16,000 providing she has only spent the money reasonably. (She can spend it buying food, paying bills, replacing failed appliances, etc., but can't buy an expensive car or take an expensive holiday.) 

If she was receiving DLA for her son, this will not have stopped.

kaMelo

Bereavement support payments are a possibility as long as they were living together. I'd urge you to get her to apply for this as soon as possible as delaying application can mean less support overall.

The payment from her partners employer I'm assuming is a one off "death in service" payment rather than an ongoing spouse payment. These can be quite substantial, up to 4 x annual salary, so it's difficult to suggest anything else as this sum will probably mean she doesn't qualify for any means tested benefits.