When someone on Attendance Allowance dies: what happens to the money, and the few things the family has to do

Attendance Allowance stops when the person dies. Money paid for the weeks they were alive and entitled stays theirs. Any money still owed for those weeks belongs to their estate, while any payment that covers days after the death is usually recovered from the estate later. For the family the jobs are few: tell the government once, keep the bank statements and do not share out the estate until the DWP has confirmed whether anything needs repaying. A claim, reconsideration or appeal that was still running can be carried on by someone the DWP appoints, and a carer on Carer's Allowance normally keeps it for up to 8 more weeks.

This guide is for the son, daughter, partner or friend now holding the paperwork. It covers England and Wales first, then the differences in Scotland, where Pension Age Disability Payment has replaced Attendance Allowance, and in Northern Ireland. Very little of it is urgent on the day itself, and the few real deadlines are flagged as they come up.

The short version

If you only have energy for one thing this week, make it the first step: telling the government.

Step one: tell the government once

If the person lived in England, Scotland or Wales, the registrar who records the death will explain a service called Tell Us Once. The registrar either completes it with you there and then, or gives you a unique reference number to use yourself, online or by phone. The reference must be used within 28 days of getting it. One report reaches the DWP, which cancels benefits such as Attendance Allowance and State Pension, along with HMRC, the Passport Office, the DVLA, the local council (for Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and any Blue Badge) and Social Security Scotland.

Have to hand the details of whoever is dealing with the estate, the surviving spouse or civil partner's National Insurance number or date of birth and a list of the benefits the person was getting. Gov.uk asks that you have permission from the surviving partner, next of kin or executor before giving their details.

If Tell Us Once is not available

Call the DWP Bereavement Service on 0800 151 2012 (Relay UK: 18001 then 0800 151 2012; Welsh language line: 0800 731 0453), Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. It cancels the person's benefits and entitlements and checks whether you can get help with funeral costs or other benefits; Citizens Advice notes that it can deal with all the DWP benefits the person was getting.

When the payments stop, and the awkward last payment

Attendance Allowance is a weekly entitlement, and it ends with the death. The awkward part is timing, because awards are not all paid on the same pattern. Social Security Scotland's guidance on moving people from Attendance Allowance to Pension Age Disability Payment describes awards paid every 4 weeks, awards paid weekly in advance and awards paid on a "3+1" cycle, three weeks in arrears and one in advance. So the last payment around a death may fall short of what was due, or may run a few days past it.

Neither matters much if the DWP hears quickly. If a payment lands after the death, leave it in the account and keep the statement: whether it belongs to the estate or goes back depends on which days it covered, and the DWP will work that out.

One older issue can surface now. Attendance Allowance pauses after 28 days in an NHS hospital or in local-authority-funded residential care, as our guide to hospital and care home stays explains, and gov.uk lists a hospital or nursing home stay the DWP was not told about as a typical cause of an overpayment found after a death. If the last months included a long admission, gather the dates and any record of what was reported and when.

Money paid after the death: what the DWP can ask back

Gov.uk is direct about it: the DWP can recover benefit overpayments from a person's estate. Attendance Allowance ignores savings and income, so for this benefit the usual causes are payments made after the death and hospital or care home stays that were never reported.

Once probate has been granted, the DWP writes to whoever is dealing with the estate and asks for information such as bank statements or building society passbooks. If it is not provided, gov.uk warns, the overpayment is calculated on the probate figure before any deductions. Where a payment simply arrived before the DWP knew about the death, its Debt Management team contacts the next of kin, the bank the benefit was paid into and whoever is handling the estate.

If there has been an overpayment, the DWP writes to explain how it was worked out, why it happened and how to pay; a repayment plan can be discussed on the number in the letter. If you think the decision is wrong, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration, the same first step used to challenge any DWP decision and described in our guide for when Attendance Allowance is refused.

Money owed to the person who died

The opposite case is Attendance Allowance that was due but not yet paid when the person died. Regulation 30 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 lets the DWP pay benefit owed to someone who has died to people aged over 16 claiming as their personal representatives, legatees, next of kin or creditors. In practice that is often the executor, or close family where there is no will.

The same regulation sets a time limit. A written application for the money is needed within 12 months of the death, or within a longer period if the DWP allows one in a particular case. There is an exception: no written application is needed where no executor or administrator has been appointed and the person was getting State Pension or Pension Credit. If you are not sure which applies, send a short written request anyway. It costs a stamp and keeps you inside the time limit.

One change catches families out. A Lasting Power of Attorney ends automatically on death, and gov.uk says the person's affairs are then looked after by their executors or personal representatives, not the attorney. So whoever managed the money as attorney, or as the DWP benefit appointee described in our guide to claiming for a parent, hands over to the estate's representative rather than carrying on as before.

A claim, reconsideration or appeal that was still running

Sometimes a death comes while paperwork is still moving, particularly with special rules claims made in the last weeks of life. The claim does not simply lapse. Regulation 30 lets the DWP appoint someone to proceed with the claim and with any related revision, supersession or appeal. If the person qualified, the money due from the claim date up to the death can then be paid to the estate.

Social Security Scotland's guidance gives a worked example: a woman applies in June and dies in July before a decision; her GP's information arrives afterwards, and she is found entitled to the higher rate from the date of application to the date of her death, with the arrears paid on her behalf. The Scottish rules differ in detail, but the logic is the same.

What to do in England and Wales: ring the Attendance Allowance helpline on 0800 731 0122, explain that the claimant has died with a claim, reconsideration or appeal outstanding and ask how to be appointed to carry it on. Then send anything still missing. Notes kept in a care needs diary, or a short letter from the GP or the main carer, can still show what help was needed by day and by night while the person was alive. If the challenge was against a refusal or the lower rate, carrying it on can be worth real money to the estate.

A claim that was never made is a different matter. Attendance Allowance is paid only from the date of claim and is not backdated, and regulation 30 treats a claim made on behalf of someone after their death as made on the date of death. So there is generally no way to recover help that was needed but never claimed, even if the person had phoned for a form and died before sending it back. If you are not sure whether a form was already posted, ring the helpline and ask before assuming either way.

The carer's money after the death

A carer who was getting Carer's Allowance for looking after the person does not lose it overnight. Section 70 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 keeps the allowance running for up to 8 weeks, starting with the Sunday after the death, or with the day of the death if that was a Sunday. It stops sooner only if the carer stops meeting one of the other conditions, for example by earning more than £204 a week after deductions.

The same 8 weeks apply to the £48.15 carer addition paid with Pension Credit, including for retired carers whose Carer's Allowance was never paid because of their State Pension: the underlying entitlement explained in our guide for carers. The run-on is written into the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002.

Two practical things. The carer cannot report the death through the online Carer's Allowance change service; gov.uk directs carers to Tell Us Once instead. And it helps to put the end of the 8 weeks in the diary now, then ask the Bereavement Service what the carer can claim afterwards, especially if they are under State Pension age.

The rest of the household's money

A surviving partner. Gov.uk notes that some benefits a partner was claiming for the family will need new claims. In a pension-age household, a couple's Pension Credit is the one to ask about first, along with Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction. Tell Us Once asks the council to cancel the claims of the person who died, so a surviving partner may need to claim in their own name.

Funeral costs. A Funeral Expenses Payment can help if the person arranging the funeral, or their partner, gets Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit. They must also meet the rules on their relationship with the person who died. Attendance Allowance is not on that list, so it neither qualifies nor disqualifies anyone. Scotland has its own Funeral Support Payment from Social Security Scotland.

Bereavement Support Payment. This is for a husband, wife or civil partner (and, with extra conditions, a partner who lived with them as if married) who was under State Pension age when their partner died, provided the partner paid enough National Insurance contributions or died because of an accident at work or a work-related disease. A younger partner should check: claims usually need to be made within 21 months, and within 3 months to get the full amount.

Scotland: Pension Age Disability Payment after a death

Tell Us Once works in Scotland and notifies Social Security Scotland. If you cannot use it, call Social Security Scotland free on 0800 182 2222, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Its decision-making guidance for Pension Age Disability Payment, which our Scotland hub introduces, sets out what happens next:

• Entitlement ends from and including the day after the death.
• In most cases payments are made four-weekly in arrears, so money is often still owed. It is paid to the executor or, where there is no executor, to an appointee for the person who died.
• An application or change of circumstances still waiting for a decision can be decided after the death, with any arrears paid in the same way.
• The estate is liable for money paid after the death, but overpayments of £65 or less are treated as small and are not recovered.
• Awards under the special rules for terminal illness are paid weekly in advance, so the last payment can cover a few days after the death; Social Security Scotland works out that overpayment in the same way.

Carers in Scotland also have a longer run-on. Where the death was on or after 15 March 2026, a carer getting Carer Support Payment (now paid as part of Carer Support) keeps it, together with any Scottish Carer Supplement, for 12 award weeks, starting with the award week after the week of the death. Earlier deaths keep the old 8-week rule. A Pension Credit carer addition linked to Carer Support Payment follows the same 12 weeks.

Northern Ireland

Tell Us Once is not available if the person lived in Northern Ireland. Instead, the Department for Communities Bereavement Service on 0800 085 2463 (Relay UK: 18001 then 0800 085 2463), Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, records the date of death and tells each office that paid the person benefit. It can also check whether you can claim Bereavement Support Payment or a Funeral Expenses Payment. Overpayments are handled by the Department for Communities Debt Management service, and nidirect confirms that Carer's Allowance usually stops after eight weeks. The helpline for claims still open is in our Northern Ireland guide.

The first month, on one page

1. Register the death and ask the registrar about Tell Us Once.
2. Use the Tell Us Once reference within 28 days, or call the Bereavement Service.
3. Write down the Attendance Allowance payment dates for the last two months and keep the bank statements.
4. If a claim, reconsideration or appeal was still running, call the helpline and ask to carry it on.
5. If you were the carer, note the date your 8-week run-on ends (12 weeks for Carer Support Payment in Scotland).
6. Check whether a Funeral Expenses Payment, or Funeral Support Payment in Scotland, can help with the funeral bill.
7. If you are the executor, send a written request for any money owed within 12 months and hold the estate until the DWP confirms nothing is due back.

None of this undoes what the benefit was for. Attendance Allowance was paid because someone needed looking after: taxis to appointments, help in the house, the heating left on, the hours a daughter or son took off work. Settling its last weeks is a small piece of administration. Take it one envelope at a time.

Common questions