Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave

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Check if you're eligible

To qualify for Parental Bereavement Leave and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you must meet the criteria both as a parent (including if you had day to day responsibility) and an employee. You might not be eligible for both, depending on your circumstances.

If you were the child’s parent or a parent’s partner

You may be eligible if at the time of the child’s death or stillbirth, you were:

  • the child or baby’s parent - either biological, adoptive or parent of a child born to a surrogate
  • the partner of the child or baby’s parent

Biological parents of the child or baby will not be eligible for Parental Bereavement Leave and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay after an adoption or parental order was made, unless there was a contact order in place.

If you or your partner had day to day responsibility for the child

You may be eligible if both of the following apply:

  • the child or baby was living with you at your home for 4 continuous weeks, ending with the date of death
  • you or your partner had day to day responsibility for the child or baby’s care during that time

If you or your partner were being paid to look after the child or baby, you do not qualify for leave or pay unless you were:

  • a foster parent being paid a fee or allowance by a local authority
  • reimbursed for expenses related to caring for the child or baby
  • getting payments under the terms of a will or trust for the child or baby’s care

You are not eligible if one of the child or baby’s parents or someone who had parental responsibility (parental responsibilities in Scotland) for the child was also living in the household.

If you or your partner were an adoptive parent

You are eligible for pay or leave:

  • after the adoption order was granted
  • before the adoption order was made, if the child was placed with you and the placement was not disrupted (for example, being temporarily placed elsewhere) or stopped

If you or your partner were an adoptive parent of a child from outside the United Kingdom

If you or your partner were adopting a child from outside the United Kingdom and the adoption order had not yet been made, you may still be eligible. Both of the following must apply:

  • the child was living with you after entering the United Kingdom
  • you have the ‘official notification’ confirming you were allowed to adopt

If you or your partner had a baby with the help of a surrogate parent

You are eligible for pay or leave:

  • after a parental order was made
  • before a parental order was made if you had applied or intended to apply for a parental order within 6 months of the child’s birth and expected it to be granted

Parental Bereavement Leave

To get Parental Bereavement Leave, you must also:

Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

To get Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you must have been continuously employed by your employer for at least 26 weeks up to the end of the ‘relevant week’. The ‘relevant week’ is the week (ending with a Saturday) immediately before the week of the death or stillbirth.

You must also:

  • continue to be employed up to the day the child dies or is stillborn
  • earn on average £123 a week before tax (gross) over an 8 week period
  • give your employer the correct notice and information for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

If you usually earn an average of £123 or more a week, and you only earned less in some weeks because you were paid but not working (‘on furlough’) under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, you may still be eligible.

View a printable version of the whole guide

Part of What to do when someone dies: step by step

  1. Step 1 Register the death

    1. Register the death

    Check what to do if:

  2. Step 2 Tell government about the death

    The Tell Us Once service allows you to inform all the relevant government departments when someone dies.

    1. Use the Tell Us Once service to tell government
    2. If you cannot use Tell Us Once, tell government yourself

    You'll also need to tell banks, utility companies, and landlords or housing associations yourself.

  3. Step 3 Arrange the funeral

    1. Arrange the funeral
    2. Get help paying for a funeral
    3. Get help paying for a child's funeral

  4. Step 4 Check if you can get bereavement benefits

    You might be eligible for financial help.

    Check if you can get:

  5. and Deal with your own benefits, pension and taxes

    Your tax, benefit claims and pension might change depending on your relationship with the person who died.

    1. Manage your tax, pensions and benefits if your partner has died
    2. Check how benefits are affected if a child dies

  6. and Find bereavement support and services

    Get help with managing grief and the things you need to do when someone dies.

    1. Find bereavement help and support
    2. Find bereavement services from your local council

  7. and Check if you need to apply to stay in the UK

    If your right to live in the UK depends on your relationship with someone who died you might need to apply for a new visa.

    Check the rules if:

    1. Contact UKVI to check the rules for other visas

  8. Step 5 Value the estate and check if you need to pay Inheritance Tax

    To find out if there’s Inheritance Tax to pay, you need to estimate the value of the property, money and possessions (the ‘estate’) of the person who died.

    1. Estimate the value of the estate to find out if you need to pay Inheritance Tax
    1. Find out how to report the value of the estate
    1. Pay Inheritance Tax if it’s due

  9. Step 6 Apply for probate

    You might need to apply for probate before you can deal with the property, money and possessions (the ‘estate’) of the person who died.

    1. Check if you need to apply for probate
    1. Apply for probate

  10. Step 7 Deal with the estate

    Pay any debts or taxes owed by the person who's died. You can then distribute the estate as set out in the will or the law.

    1. Deal with the estate
    1. Update property records