8th February deadline for cohabiting parents to apply for bereavement support
Following a campaign to convince the government to allow unmarried widows to be eligible for bereavement support payments, the window for claiming retrospective payment closes this February.
Previously, cohabiting couples were not entitled to support if they were unmarried at the time their partner passed away.
A campaign going back more than 10 years finally forced the government to extend the scope of bereavement support to include cohabiting couples, but only included a window of a year for those affected to apply for retrospective payments. This opened in February 2023 and closes this February 8th.
The successful campaign was pursued by charities the Childhood Bereavement Network and WAY Widowed and Young whose website includes details of the legal challenges behind the changes and more information on how to apply.
Fieldfisher Director Marcos Eleftheriou is a Trustee of the charity Widowed and Young. He regularly runs claims on behalf of people who have lost their partner following medical negligence.
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