Closed petition Allow all parents of dependent children to access Bereavement Support Payment

Closed on 19 November 2023

To ensure all dependent children who have lost a parent can benefit from this support, by extending this payment to non-cohabiting parents of dependent children, even if they were not married or in a civil partnership with the deceased.

Children in bereaved families should be supported, regardless of their parent's relationship.

My children’s lives suddenly changed forever, when aged 7 and 9, their father passed away. We don’t meet the BSP eligibility criteria, because we were divorced & not cohabitating at the time of death. We believe this is unjust and should be changed.

On top of supporting my children through their grief, I have the financial worry of supporting them alone. Children are entitled to receive maintenance from a non-resident parent and shouldn’t be excluded from financial support when a parent dies.