widow's pension

I believe it is now called Bereavement Allowance.

If her pension then falls below the minimum income set for pensioners (which is higher than the basic pension rate) she can apply for pension credit that will bring her weekly income up to a minimum of £155.60 plus an entitlement to help in paying Council tax and her rent, if you rent your home.

While I trust, widowhood is long in the distance for your wife, the best thing she can do when that happens is contact her local Age UK (previously Age Concern) and get them to help and advise her. They would do a benefits/pension check and help her apply for any benefits she may be entitled to.

If someone is widowed after they get their State pension, they don't get Widows benefit. Instead their State pension is increased to roughly the same amount of State pension their late husband was receiving. Your wife's basic State pension will be substituted by yours and she'll also get half of any Graduated Retirement Benefit you get. She might also get some of your Additional State Pension, but that will depend on whether or not you were contracted out of the State scheme. Plus the rules changed in April this year and I am not up to date with the changes to the Additional Pension rules. Hope this helps.

The government website says: If your spouse or civil partner is over State Pension age when you die, they should contact the Pension Service to check what they can claim. They may be able to increase their basic State Pension by using your qualifying years if they don’t already get the full amount. This is the website www.gov.uk/state-pension/further-information. Hope this helps