Widowed and Young

Available for over a year

In the UK, if a couple with children were married or in a civil partnership - and one of them died, the other was entitled automatically to these payments. But last year, the law in the UK changed to afford cohabiting couples the same right. They are being allowed to make backdated claims worth thousands of pounds going back years – but that option is time limited. On the 8th of February, the money will vanish back into the Treasury. In this episode of 5 Minutes On, Dan Whitworth, a reporter for the BBC’s MoneyBox programme investigates this issue. He meets Janet Cowden, who lost her fiancé Paul in a motorbike crash in 2016. Because they were engaged at the time and not married, she did not qualify for any widowed support to help raise their two young children. He hears how - after the law change - that money she received was hugely significant. (Image: BBC)