What Benefits Stop When Someone Dies? UK 2026 Checklist

What benefits stop when someone dies?

1Benefits and State Pension stop on death. Anything paid for a period after the date of death is an overpayment and comes back out of the estate
2Tell Us Once notifies DWP and, in Scotland, Social Security Scotland. It cannot stop a benefit you receive as someone's parent or carer — that has to be reported to DWP separately
3In Scotland several of these benefits no longer exist under their DWP names: Adult Disability Payment has replaced PIP, Pension Age Disability Payment has replaced Attendance Allowance, Child Disability Payment has replaced DLA for children, and Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer's Allowance
4Overpaid benefit is recovered from the estate, not from family members personally, unless they were a joint claimant or appointee
5The death of a child or of a parent must be reported to the Child Benefit Office within 8 weeks

Benefits and State Pension stop when someone dies, and anything paid for a period after the date of death is an overpayment recovered from the estate. The quickest way to report it is Tell Us Once when you register the death; otherwise call the DWP Bereavement Service on0800 151 2012 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm). There is no published deadline, but the sooner you tell them, the less there is to repay.

When someone dies, their benefits and State Pension stop. There is no legal deadline for telling the department, but anything paid for a period after the date of death is an overpayment that comes back out of the estate, so it is worth doing early. This page covers what stops, what the rules are in Scotland, and what a surviving partner may be able to claim.

Key points at a glance:

Benefits and State Pension stop on death
Anything paid for a period after the date of death is an overpayment and is recovered from the estate
Use Tell Us Once to notify DWP and, in Scotland, Social Security Scotland
Scotland has replaced several DWP benefits with Social Security Scotland equivalents
Survivors may be entitled to bereavement benefits
Tell the Child Benefit Office within 8 weeks if a child or a parent has died

Which benefits stop

A person's own benefits and State Pension stop when they die. In England and Wales, the DWP benefits most often in payment are:

State Pension and Pension Credit
Universal Credit
Jobseeker's Allowance
Employment and Support Allowance
Income Support
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
Disability Living Allowance
Attendance Allowance
Carer's Allowance
Housing Benefit, and Council Tax Reduction at the council

Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit no longer exist — tax credits ended in April 2025 and claimants moved to Universal Credit or Pension Credit — so you will not need to notify HMRC about them.

If the person lived in Scotland

Several of the benefits above no longer exist in Scotland under those names. They are paid by Social Security Scotland instead of DWP, so the names on the letters will be different:

Adult Disability Payment has replaced Personal Independence Payment
Pension Age Disability Payment has replaced Attendance Allowance
Child Disability Payment has replaced Disability Living Allowance for children
Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer's Allowance

Tell Us Once notifies Social Security Scotland as well as DWP, so a single notification still covers both. Universal Credit, State Pension and Pension Credit remain with DWP throughout the UK. Northern Ireland has its own Department for Communities and cannot use Tell Us Once at all.

Benefits Notification Checklist

Immediate Actions

Use Tell Us Once service to notify DWP and other departments
Check if any benefits were paid after death (potential overpayments)
Check whether a surviving spouse or civil partner under State Pension age can claim Bereavement Support Payment
Notify private and workplace pension providers — Tell Us Once only covers certain public sector schemes

Overpayments: Anything paid for a period after the date of death is an overpayment and is recovered from the estate, not from family members personally — unless they were a joint claimant or an appointee. Reporting the death promptly keeps the amount small.

Act quickly but don't panic

While it's important to notify benefit departments quickly, they understand this is a difficult time. Most departments are experienced in handling death notifications and will guide you through the process.

Tell Us Once handles DWP, HMRC and Social Security Scotland in one notification. Two things it does not do: it cannot stop a benefit that you receive because you were the person's parent or carer — you must tell DWP about that separately — and it does not cover private or workplace pensions.

Which benefits stop

A person's own benefits and State Pension stop when they die. In England and Wales, the DWP benefits most often in payment are:

State Pension and Pension Credit

Universal Credit

Jobseeker's Allowance

Employment and Support Allowance

Income Support

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Disability Living Allowance

Attendance Allowance

Carer's Allowance

Housing Benefit, and Council Tax Reduction at the council

If the person lived in Scotland

Several of the benefits above no longer exist in Scotland under those names. They are paid by Social Security Scotland instead of DWP, so the names on the letters will be different:

Adult Disability Payment has replaced Personal Independence Payment

Pension Age Disability Payment has replaced Attendance Allowance

Child Disability Payment has replaced Disability Living Allowance for children

Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer's Allowance

Benefits Notification Checklist

Immediate Actions

Use Tell Us Once service to notify DWP and other departments
Check if any benefits were paid after death (potential overpayments)
Check whether a surviving spouse or civil partner under State Pension age can claim Bereavement Support Payment
Notify private and workplace pension providers — Tell Us Once only covers certain public sector schemes

When Benefits Stop After Someone Dies