When a Carer Support application is made posthumously after the death of the cared for person

All components of Carer Support can usually be backdated for up to 13 weeks in the past from application date. Carer Support can be backdated for more than 13 weeks where the qualifying disability benefit is backdated further and where the carer applies within 13 weeks of the decision to award the qualifying disability benefit. Further information can be found at Backdating - where a carer chooses a start date in the past. This is usually following an appeal decision. If a carer has been providing care throughout the cared for person’s application, re-determination and appeal process, they may have missed out on support that they were unable to apply for prior to the qualifying disability benefit being awarded. This is because a carer cannot receive Carer Support until a qualifying benefit is in place.

If a cared for person dies whilst awaiting the outcome of a qualifying benefit decision, and they are awarded a qualifying disability benefit the carer can apply for Carer Support. The carer will get Carer Support for the care they provided before the cared for person died. They also will continue getting Carer Support for 12 weeks from the first Sunday following the week the cared for person dies. This applies as long as they still meet other eligibility criteria during the 12-week run-on.

When a carer applies for Carer Support Social Security Scotland will normally issue a notification to the cared for person named on a Carer Support application. If the cared for person has died and a Carer Support application is being made posthumously, the notification will not be sent.