Widow's pension

Do all widows qualify for the state widows pension?. The elderly mother of a friend has been a widow for a long time and does not receive the widows pension. She has an occupational pension from her late husband's employment but this has suffered from cuts over recent years. Can anyone help with this question as to whether she is entitled to the state widow's pension. What documentation and where should one apply for the widows pension? Thanks in anticipation of a favorable answer.

There are 2 types of Widow's Pension - Contributory (based on PRSI contributions) or Non-Contributory (means-tested).

Here are the PRSI contribution requirements, taken from welfare.ie:

To qualify for a Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension, either you or your late spouse/civil 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 contributions of both spouses/civil partners. All must have been made before the death of the spouse/civil partner.
Virtually all PRSI contributions count towards this pension, including contributions paid by public servants and the self-employed.


Either you or your spouse/civil partner must have:

• At least 156 paid contributions (paid to the date your spouse/civil partner died or before your 66th birthday, whichever is earlier)

And

• An average of 39 paid or credited contributions in either the 3 or 5 years before the death of the spouse/civil partner or before he/she 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.

If the lady's husband was in full-time employment prior to his death, then it's likely that his contributions will meet the requirements.

More information, and an application form is available here:
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/Pension/WidowerPensionContributory/Pages/wpc.aspx

The answer to your question is not all widows are entitled to a widows pension, but the majority are. My own Mum never had a widows pension.

However, as the lady has an occupational pension the husband must have paid PRSI during his working life either in the Public Service or in private employment or self-employment. I would suggest an immediate application for a Contributory Widows Pension. The form can be downloaded from welfare.ie

If she over 66 she should also apply for her Household Benefits (Electricity, Telephone and TV Allowances) and if over 70 she may also be entitled to a Medical Card