War Pension Scheme: War Widows or War Widowers Pension
Information and guidance on how to apply for a War Widows or War Widowers Pension.
Announcement
Lump sum payment for war widows
A one-off payment of £87,500 for eligible spouses in recognition of those who forfeited their pensions prior to 2015.
Overview
War Widows or Widowers Pension are paid at different rates depending on your age and circumstances. The payments are tax free and can be made to an eligible bereaved wife, husband or civil partner. You may be eligible for War Widows or Widowers Pension if your wife, husband or civil partner died as a result of their service in His Majesty’s (HM) Armed Forces before 6 April 2005.
Eligibility
The deceased must have served before 6 April 2005, but you may be eligible if they died of an illness or injury later.
One of the following must apply, your wife, husband or civil partner:
- died as result of their service in HM Armed Forces before 6 April 2005
- was a civil defence volunteer or a civilian and their death was a result of the 1939 to 1945 war
- was a merchant seaman, a member of the naval auxiliary services, or a coastguard and their death was a result of an injury or disease they got during a war or because they were a prisoner of war
- died as a result of their service as a member of the Polish Forces under British command during the 1939 to 1945 war, or in the Polish Resettlement Forces
- was getting a War Pensions Constant Attendance Allowance at the time of their death, or would have been had they not been in hospital
- was getting a War Disablement Pension at the 80% rate or higher and was getting Unemployability Supplement.
You may be entitled to a pension if you lived with a partner as husband and wife or as civil partners.
Important information
If your partner was injured, developed an illness or died as a result of service on or after 6 April 2005, you may be eligible to claim through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.
If you are awarded a WWP, you may be be eligible to claim for other allowances.
You may be eligible to claim for assistance towards funeral expenses.
How to claim
To apply for War Widow(er) Pension, complete the application form:
The form comes with notes telling you how to fill it in.
If you cannot download or print the form, phone or email the Veterans UK Helpline to ask for a copy.
If you disagree with a decision
Information on what to do if you think the decision is wrong
Changes in circumstances
You must let us know immediately about any changes in your circumstances so that we can make sure that you are getting the right amount of money.
Please Note: You’ll continue to get your pension if you marry, form a civil partnership or start living with a partner on or after 1 April 2015. If this happened before 1 April 2015, you’ll still get a pension if both:
- your late spouse or civil partner left service before 31 March 1973, and
- your new relationship started on or after 6 April 2005
If your pension stopped, you may be able claim your pension again if:
- you become widowed again
- you divorce or separate
- your civil partner dies
- your civil partnership ends
- you stop living with the person as their partner
If your pension has been stopped and you would like to claim your pension again, contact Veterans UK.
If you need help
If you have any questions, contact Veterans UK
This guidance provides general information only. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, but it is not a full and authoritative statement of the law. The scheme rules are the authoritative document.
Updates to this page
Last updated 12 October 2023 + show all updates
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Included announcement on an exercise looking at Lump sum payment for war widows who forfeited their pensions prior to 2015.
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First published.