‘I have a widow’s pension and private pension: will my family have to repay funds when I die?’

A widow is fully entitled to her widow's pension if her husband's social insurance record meets all the criteria. Photograph: iStockMy husband paid for the State pension all his working life. When he retired he got the extra pension for me.I also have a private pension. I have a large sum of money on deposit and also State saving certificates.Ms AC, email

Bad and all as any such review could be during our lifetime, people are justifiably more alarmed by the prospect of their grieving loved ones getting landed with a substantial financial penalty after we die. A payment of up to €253.30 a week may not seem a lot but it can quickly mount up over time if it had to be repaid.

The key here is that this is a “contributory” welfare payment. It is paid out to you on the basis of social insurance contributions made during your working lives by either you or your husband. However, once he died, you will have qualified for the widow’s pension on the back of his qualification for the State pension in his latter years – with no means test.

Only if you or your husband fall short of that average of 39 does welfare look at the longer social insurance payment history of a minimum of 24 weekly payments a year over the working lifetime. If, over that working life, either you or your husband has paid an average of 48 weekly payments every year, you will get the maximum pension payment.

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