Dad died, what help can my mum get?

housebuyer143

So my dad died today. He was 69 and my mum is 62. 

She doesn't work and now has no income at all. Her savings are over £16k so I don't think she is eligible for UC. 
We applied for bereavement support but is there anything else she can claim? 

Keep_pedalling

Was your father drawing a pension other than the state pension? If so what scheme was it?

Does she own her home or is she renting?

housebuyer143

Keep_pedalling said:

Was your father drawing a pension other than the state pension? If so what scheme was it?

Does she own her home or is she renting?

Just the state pension, they withdrew lump sums from the private pension a few years ago. 

She owns her own home outright. 

born_again

housebuyer143 said:

So my dad died today. He was 69 and my mum is 62. 

She doesn't work and now has no income at all. Her savings are over £16k so I don't think she is eligible for UC. 
We applied for bereavement support but is there anything else she can claim? 

Sorry for you loss.
1st thing support your mum through the process of sorting the rest of the bereavement issues.

Once that is sorted you can sit down & look at what she might be able to claim.
single person council tax would be one, if it was just your mum & dad in their house.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

Rubyroobs

Sorry for your loss. Unfortunately if she has savings over 16k there will be nothing to claim until those savings drop below 16k and then she could look at claiming Universal credit. As other have said it will likely just be bereavement support payment and single occupancy discount on council tax if living alone and no other adults in the household. Things must have already been very tight with just one state pension coming in ?

[Deleted User]

Is your mum given time able to work?

housebuyer143

My mum might be able to work, but I don't know when - it's going to take her a long time to get over this as they were together for 47 years 😞 

My dad used to do a job in his free time and it brought in a little extra money so they were okay but without him she has nothing coming in at all. 

DE_612183

no insurance policies?

Brie

If her financial situation is that dreadful she might get the council tax knocked down to zero.  It's just a matter of knowing who and how to ask.  Citizen's Advice are great for helping deal with this but in the meantime check on this website incase there's something that's obvious that none of us have mention.  
Benefits Calculator - entitledto - independent | accurate | reliable

Also - check if she can be on social tariff for things like gas, electric, phone, internet, water.  If there's any debts or simply bills that can't be paid on time as normal do be sure to ring the creditors up and tell them of the situation - most will be sympathetic.

Sorry for your loss - it's a tough thing for anyone to go through. Do try to be sure that she socialises somehow, too many people just lock themselves away particuarly after such a long marriage.

Keep_pedalling

From one of your other threads you indicated that your mothers savings were actually in a life interest trust which would mean it will not be available to her until the death of her mother, is that correct?

housebuyer143

Keep_pedalling said:

From one of your other threads you indicated that your mothers savings were actually in a life interest trust which would mean it will not be available to her until the death of her mother, is that correct?

Yes, that's true but she does have other savings as well that put her over the limit. 

Once the pension kicks in it will be better but I think first and foremost she will need people to socialise with as she has never been alone and I think it will destroy her 😕