Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension

The Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension is a weekly payment to the partner of a deceased person. A partner can be a husband, wife, civil partner or cohabitant.

This payment was called the Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension. In July 2025, the payment was renamed and extended to include cohabitants (cohabitating couples). If your partner died before July 2025, you may still qualify – see ‘Cohabitants and backdating the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension’ below.

A cohabiting couple is a couple that lives together in an intimate and committed relationship, who are not married to each other and not in a civil partnership. To qualify for the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, a cohabitating couple must be living together for a continuous period of at least 5 years (or 2 years if you have dependent children together).

To qualify for the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension either you or your partner must have enough social insurance contributions (PRSI).

The pension is payable regardless of other income.

Budget 2026

From January 2026, the maximum weekly rate of Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) will increase by €10, with proportionate increases for people getting a reduced rate.

From January 2026, the Child Support Payment will increase:

• By €8, from €50 to €58, for children under 12 years of age
• By €16, from €62 to €78, for children aged 12 years and over

Divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership

If you are divorced or your civil partnership was dissolved, and the death of your partner occurs on or after 21 July 2025, you will not get the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension.

If you are divorced or your civil partnership was dissolved and the death of your partner occurred before 21 July 2025 and you would have been entitled to a Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension had you remained married or in your civil partnership, you can keep your entitlement to the payment (now called the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension) as long as you continue to meet the qualifying conditions.

Separation, annulment or stopped cohabitating

You will not get a Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension if you had lived apart and were not in an intimate and committed relationship for a period of at least 2 years immediately before the date of death of your partner. A relationship can continue to be ‘intimate’ even if it is not sexual.

To qualify for the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension:

• You must be a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the deceased. If you are a cohabitant, you must be cohabiting for at least 5 years (or 2 years if you have dependent children together)
• Either you or your partner must have enough social insurance contributions (PRSI) – see below

If you re-marry or start to cohabit, your Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension will no longer be payable.

Social insurance contributions (PRSI)

To qualify for a Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, either you or your late partner must have a certain number of PRSI contributions. All the PRSI requirements must be met on one person's record - you may not combine the couple’s contributions. All PRSI contributions must have been made before the death of your partner.

Virtually all PRSI contributions count towards this pension, including contributions paid by public servants and the self-employed.

Either you or your partner must have:

• At least 260 paid contributions paid before the relevant date*

And

• An average of 39 paid or credited contributions in either the 3 or 5 years before the death of your partner or before they reached pension age (66)

Or

• A yearly average of at least 24 paid or credited contributions from the year of first entry into insurance until the year of death or reaching pension age. If this average is used then an average of 24 will entitle you to a minimum pension, you will need an average of 48 per year to get the full pension.

*The relevant date is the earliest of the following dates:

• The date your partner died
• The date of the insured person’s 66th birthday (the social insurance record used to qualify)
• If the insured person was born on or after 1 January 1958, the date when the last qualifying or voluntary contribution was paid (if after their 66th birthday, but before the date of death)

Contributions paid in other EU member states

If you or your late partner were previously employed in a country covered by EU Regulations or in a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, and you have a minimum of 52 Irish social insurance contributions with at least one full rate PRSI contribution paid, you may combine your insurance record in that country with your Irish PRSI contributions to help you qualify for Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension.

More information is available in our page about combining your social insurance contributions from abroad.

If your partner was getting a State Pension (Contributory)

You may automatically qualify for a Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension if your late partner was getting a State Pension (Contributory) which included an increase for you as their adult dependent (or would have included an increase but for the fact that you were getting a State Pension (Non-Contributory), Blind Pension or Carer's Allowance).

There is no automatic qualification if your late partner was getting a mixed insurance pro-rata, EU/Bilateral Agreement pro-rata or Pre-53 pension. In all such cases you should apply in the normal way.

If you do not automatically qualify for a Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, then either you or your late spouse or civil partner must have a certain number of PRSI contributions – see above.

If your relationship had ended

Divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership

If you are divorced or your civil partnership was dissolved, and the death of your partner occurs on or after 21 July 2025, you will not get the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension.

Separation, annulment or stopped cohabitating

You will not get a Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension if you had lived apart and were not in an intimate and committed relationship for a period of at least 2 years immediately before the date of death of your partner. A relationship can continue to be ‘intimate’ even if it is not sexual.

If you re-marry or start to cohabit, the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension is no longer payable.

If your circumstances change and you re-marry or start to cohabit, you must notify in writing the Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension section in the Department of Social Protection (see 'Where to apply' below).

Child dependants

You can get Child Support Payments (previously called Increases for Qualified Children) with your pension - these remain payable while the child is aged under 18 and they may continue to be paid until age 22 if the child is in full-time education.

Since this is a contributory pension, you may earn any amount of money from any other source and still remain entitled to this pension. It is taxable. If it is your only source of income, you are unlikely to have to pay tax.

Social welfare payments

The Bereaved Parent Grant is a once-off payment available to bereaved partners with dependent children.

Under the Occupational Injuries Scheme, a bereaved partner's pension may be payable if the death was due to an occupational injury or disease.

People getting a Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension are eligible for the Household Benefits Package if they meet the usual conditions.

If your partner was getting a Household Benefits Package when they died, you can keep the package if you are aged 60 or over (even though you do not meet the usual age requirement).

You can claim Working Family Payment (if you meet the criteria) and get a Bereaved Partner's Contributory Pension at the same time. Your Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension is assessed as means.

Generally, you cannot get a Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension and another social welfare payment at the same time. For example, if you are entitled to a Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension and a State Pension (Contributory), you will be paid whichever is the higher amount. If you wish to receive the lower amount, you should contact the Department of Social Protection (see 'Where to apply' below).

However, you can get a Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension and half-rate Maternity Benefit, Health and Safety Benefit, Adoptive Benefit and Carer's Allowance if you also qualify for one of these payments.

You cannot get a Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension in addition to full payment on a Community Employment (CE) scheme. You will be paid by the CE sponsor and your payment will be the equivalent of your previous personal rate of Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension plus €27.50 per week.

You cannot get a training allowance at the same time as a Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension.

A Living Alone Increase and/or an Increase for people aged 66 or over living on an island may also be paid.

You automatically get an increase of €10 in your pension when you reach 80 years of age.

In July 2025, the payment was extended to include cohabitants (cohabitating couples). If your partner died before July 2025, you may still qualify.

If your partner died before 22 January 2024 and you qualify for the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, your payment will be backdated to 22 January 2024. If your partner died on or after 22 January 2024 and you are eligible for the Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, it will be backdated to the date of death.

You have 6 months from 21 July 2025 to apply and get the payment backdated to the 22 January 2024 or date of death, if later. If the application is not made within this period, then the maximum backdating of the payment will be 6 months from the date of your application.

You can only apply for this payment by post. To apply, fill in a Bereaved Partner's Pension application form.

If you wish to talk to someone face-to-face about your pension entitlements, you can visit your local Citizens Information Centre, Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office.