Widowed Parent's Allowance - How much Widowed Parent's Allowance will I get?

Widowed Parent's Allowance is made up of a basic allowance which depends on your late husband, wife, civil partner, or cohabiting partner's national insurance contributions (unless they died because of an industrial injury or disease). In some cases, an additional payment based on your late husband, wife, civil partner or cohabiting partner's earnings is made. If your late husband, wife, civil partner or cohabiting partner had an incomplete national insurance record, the amount may be reduced.

The maximum basic allowance rate of Widowed Parent's Allowance is £148.40 a week.

If you receive Widowed Parent's Allowance, you also qualify for a £10 Christmas Bonus each year. You do not need to make a claim for the bonus: it is paid automatically. It does not affect any other benefits you might get.

Benefit Cap

Widowed Parent's Allowance is included in the benefit cap which limits the total amount in some benefits that working-age people can receive.

See our Benefit Cap information page for more details.

How will I be paid Widowed Parent's Allowance?

Widowed Parent's Allowance will be paid directly into your bank or building society account or through the Payment Exception Service if you are unable to open or manage one of these or a similar account.

Widowed Parent's Allowance is normally paid every two weeks, though you can choose to be paid every four or 13 weeks.

Widowed Parent's Allowance and other benefits

Widowed Parent's Allowance (after tax) counts in full as income when calculating your entitlement to other means-tested benefits . £10 per week is disregarded when calculating Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)and Pension Credit. There is no disregard when calculating Universal Credit.

In some cases, you may meet the conditions for both Widowed Parent's Allowance and another overlapping benefit. If this happens, your Widowed Parent's Allowance may be reduced or you may not receive a payment - even though you would if it weren't for the other overlapping benefit you receive. The rules about overlapping benefits are complicated and you may need to get advice about this from an expert benefits adviser.