Q. What is a Survivor’s Benefit?

A. A benefit paid to:

• a widow or widower or children of a deceased insured person, who met the qualifying conditions of either a pension or grant at the time of death.
• Aged parents or grandparents can be considered as dependents in some cases.

Q. For how long is a dependent widow entitled to receive a Survivors Benefit?

A. Where a widow is 55 yrs or over she would be entitled to a pension for life but she would forfeit that benefit if she remarries or cohabits with a man as his wife.

If she is under age 55 at the time of death with no dependent children, she would be entitled to a pension for one year. If however she has children of the deceased under sixteen years in her care, the pension will continue till the children are 16 or 18 if still at school provided that she does not remarry or cohabit. If she does, she will forfeit her share but the children would continue to receive theirs.

Q. How much would the dependents be entitled to?

A. A widow or widower without dependent children would receive 75% of the deceased’s pension entitlement.

A widow or widower with dependent children would receive 50%, while the children receive the remaining 50%.

Q. What happens if the deceased had no husband, wife or children to claim a benefit?

A. In this case, a parent or a grand parent of the deceased who is over pensionable age and permanently incapable of self-support and was being wholly or partially maintained by the deceased, would be entitled to the Survivors Benefit.