Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 137

Entitlement to widowed or surviving civil partner grant

Section 137 provides for a lump sum grant of €8,000 payable to bereaved partners (including surviving cohabitants) who have dependent children when their spouse, civil partner or qualified cohabitant dies on or after the passing of the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2025.

• A bereaved parent grant of €8,000 (or a higher prescribed amount) is payable as a lump sum on the death of a spouse, civil partner or qualified cohabitant.
• The claimant must have at least one dependent child living with them at the date of death (or a child born within 10 months of the death of their spouse, civil partner or qualified cohabitant).
• To qualify, the claimant must be entitled to or receiving certain social welfare payments — such as death benefit, bereaved partner's (contributory) pension, one-parent family payment, or State pension — that include an increase for a dependent child.
• The grant extends to surviving qualified cohabitants as well as surviving spouses and civil partners, and "spouse" includes former spouses from dissolved marriages recognised as valid in the State.