Q When my wife passed away in 2000, my children were 13 and 18. From April 2001, any man in my situation could claim a widower's benefit. I get this now but only learnt about it through a newspaper. How long will this benefit last?

A For as long as you get Child Benefit, which can be up to when your youngest child is 19. It is called Widowed Parent's Allowance, and I would not be surprised if there were other fathers missing out.

Q My wife is coming up to 60 and will qualify for State pension of £25.95 a week. Will this be taken off my Incapacity Benefit (IB)?

A Only if you are already receiving an increase for your wife (currently £42.65 a week) on your IB. People claiming IB after April 1995 only have this extra if the wife is 60 or over or if there are children. So if you have not been getting it, claim it now, but her State Pension will be deducted from it

Q I am a widow of 64, with a State Pension of £88.58 a week. When I was refused Pension Credit (PC), they told me my savings and bonds gave me an extra £42 coming in. Is this right?

A The first £6,000 of savings is ignored, and £2 a week for every £1,000 of savings above this is treated as income. Claim again when you are 65, when the PC rules become more generous for those with savings.

Q Can we reduce our council tax bill of £928? Our State Pensions are £169.39 and £66.31 a week with private pension of £6.68. Our savings are less than £10,000.

A Yes, by £200 a year.

Q Our weekly income from pensions is £190.94 plus savings of £17,000 and Attendance Allowance (AA). Our rent is £49.19 a week and our council tax is £20.50 a week. What can we claim?

A Nothing, as things stand. But if the caring partner claims underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance for looking after the one with AA, Pension Credit of £9.65 a week will be due. If you then reduce your savings below £16,000 by "reasonable spending", you could reduce rent and council tax by more than £40 a week.