does anyone know....?

[titiany]

As far as I know, widows are entitled to their dead husbands' state pension, or a proportion of it, right?

So what happens if the husband dies before the age where he can start drawing it, i.e. 63?

Does the money just go back into the state, or is the widow still entitled to a proportion of it when he were to have 'come of age' so to speak?

If someone could help me out on this I'd be v. grateful. :)

[Eric Mc]

She will probably be entitled to a Widow's Pension straight away and will obtain a boost to this when the year her husband would have reached 65 arrives.

I may not be fully correct on this. What she should do is contact the Department of Works and Pensions to get some advice. They have lots of help lines and no doubt a web site which should be able to answer her queries.

[oddman]

AFAIK a single person, male or female draws, a bigger pension than a married couple so I guess you could say that the extra a single draws over the half a married couples is your widows or widowers pension.

I suspect your posting for a parent but if its for you don't rely on the state pension. It will have dwindled to the point of irrelevance or you won't be able to collect it by 70....75 by the time most of us are ready to collect.

By the time I retire I'll look on the state pension as a couple of nice bottles of wine. Now it'll get you about 2 tanks of petrol a week

Happy saving

Edited to say - agree with Eric. Your local CAB, Social Services or Age Concern should be able to do a benefits check in person.

T

>> Edited by oddman on Friday 12th August 08:43

[titiany]

Thanks - not a parent in this context, but a complex scenario for someone all the same.

It's not a lot, but it will make a difference to the person in question.