Bereavement

There are certain steps that need to be taken following the death of a person. These are outlined below along with a range of benefits and services available.

Registering the death in Ireland

All deaths must be registered with the General Register Office (GRO) within three months. A death can be registered at any Civil Registration Office and is usually registered by a family member.

Find out more about how to register a death here.

Death abroad

Record of Death Abroad

Where an Irish citizen dies abroad and they were ordinarily resident in Ireland within 5 years of their death, it is possible to have the death recorded in the Record of Deaths Abroad.

You can find out more about bringing a body to Ireland for burial or cremation here.

If you need to send a body from Ireland for burial or cremation abroad you can find more information from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

If a person dies while in receipt of a social welfare payment, their death should be notified to the section of the department dealing with their payment as soon as possible.

You can find the contact details for each section of the department on the Social Welfare Phone Number Directory:

Continuation of social welfare payments after death

In certain circumstances, social welfare payments will continue to be paid to the spouse, civil partner, cohabitant or carer of the person who died for 6 weeks after their death.

Whether a payment will continue to be paid after death will depend on if the claimant meets the qualifying criteria. Payments that may continue to be paid after death include:

• Back to Work Family Dividend
• Blind Pension
• Carer's Allowance (continues to be paid for 12 weeks after death)
• Carer's Benefit
• Disability Allowance
• Domiciliary Care Allowance (continues to be paid for 12 weeks after death)
• Farm Assist
• Illness Benefit
• Incapacity Supplement
• Injury Benefit
• Invalidity Pension
• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Jobseeker's Benefit
• State Pension (Contributory)
• State Pension (Non-contributory)
• Working Family Payment

If you are in receipt of Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit or Domiciliary Care Allowance and the person you are caring for dies, you must inform the section of the department dealing with your payment as soon as possible.

You may continue to receive:

• Carer's Allowance for 12 weeks after death
• Carer's Benefit for 6 weeks after death
• Domiciliary Care Allowance for 12 weeks after death

If you are getting a social welfare payment that includes an Increase for a Qualified Adult or an Increase for a Qualified Child and the qualified person dies, you must inform the section of the department dealing with your payment as soon as possible.

You may continue to get the increased rate of payment for 6 weeks after the qualified persons death.

Information about income supports that may be available to you following a bereavement.