Was he still working or had he retired and already receiving pension. You will need to write to the Companies pension department as pensions have evolved and changed over the years. Some pensions stop as soon as the person dies, others pay a percentage, often 50% to the widow. If he was still working there is usually a payout of 3 or 4 x salary and a small widows pension. But as I said this all depends of the rules of the pension fund and is based on what happens in the UK.