A widow's pension is a sum of money available to childless widows from the Department of Social Development, who were aged at least 45 when their husband passed away. However, it is only payable to widows whose husbands died before the ninth of April, 2001. The amount is relative to the age when widowed, and is also combined with a variable earnings-related additional state pension, calculated from the taxed earnings of the deceased husband made from April 1978 to his time of death. The basic pension rate for widows over 55 from 10 April 2006 is �84.25, while widows aged 45-54 receive a reduced pension which rises by roughly �6 per birth date, starting at �25.28 for 45 year olds, and ending at �78.35 for 54 year olds. This remains fixed from time of payment, rather than rising with every year. The amount is paid directly into a bank account depending on the preference of the widow, and will not be altered by an increase or decrease in other earnings. The circumstances in which a widow will not receive their pension include divorce from their husband before death, remarriage or tenancy with another man without formal marriage, and legal imprisonment.
