Funeral Support Payment

Funeral Support Payment helps pay for funeral costs if you live in Scotland. You can use the payment towards funeral costs for a baby, child or adult. This includes babies who were stillborn.

It usually will not cover the full cost of the funeral but it should help pay for some costs. It can be paid either to you or the funeral director who’s helping you plan the funeral.

Only one person can get Funeral Support Payment for the funeral.

You will not be eligible if you’ve already had other government support for the funeral, this includes:

• Funeral Expenses Payment (England or Wales)
• Funeral Payment (Northern Ireland)
• your hospital arranging and paying for your baby’s funeral if you had a stillbirth and you did not have to pay any other costs

Definition of a funeral for Funeral Support Payment

A funeral is the burial or cremation of the person who died. It does not include:

• a memorial service or remembrance event, if it’s separate from the burial or cremation
• burying someone’s ashes after they’ve been cremated

You can get a Funeral Support Payment if all of the following apply:

• you live in Scotland
• you or your partner are getting certain benefits or tax credits
• the person who died lived in the UK
• the funeral is being held in the UK or in some circumstances in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland
• you are applying after the person has died, until 6 months after the date of their funeral
• you or your partner are responsible for the funeral
• it is reasonable for you or your partner to accept responsibility for the funeral costs

Usually, it is reasonable for the nearest relative of the person who died to accept responsibility for the funeral costs. A nearest relative could be a partner, child, parent or sibling. If you or your partner are not the nearest relative, you’ll need to explain to us when you apply, why it’s reasonable to have accepted responsibility. You can use the ‘If you think there is something else we need to know’ box at the end of the form to provide this information. We will call you to discuss this.

You might be able to get a different payment if you live in:

• England or Wales
• Northern Ireland

Benefits and tax credits you or your partner must get

You or your partner must get one or more of the following:

• Child Tax Credit
• Universal Credit (UC)
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Working Tax Credit (disability or severe disability element)
• Housing Benefit
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), not contribution-based JSA
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), not contribution-based ESA

If you or your partner are waiting to hear about your application for one of these benefits, you can still apply for Funeral Support Payment. However, we’ll only be able to let you know if you’re able to get Funeral Support Payment once we know the outcome of your other benefit applications.

Social Security Scotland can only let you know if you can get Funeral Support Payment when they know the outcome of your benefit applications.

Before applying for Funeral Support Payment, you should:

register the death of the person who died

check that you’re eligible for Funeral Support Payment

consider giving your funeral director consent to speak with Social Security Scotland about your application

To complete this form, you’ll need:

• your National Insurance number
• details of the funeral director
• any travel receipts or funeral bills you have so far
• your bank account details, if you’d like Social Security Scotland to pay you and not your funeral director

Applying online

Most people take around 25-35 minutes to complete the form.

You cannot apply online if you:

do not have a permanent address

do not have a bank account and have agreed a way for the Department for Work and Pensions to pay you

are applying for someone who cannot manage their own affairs

You’ll need to apply by phone or post if any of these apply to you.