Burial, cremation and alkaline hydrolysis costs

When someone dies, you'll have to pay burial, cremation or alkaline hydrolysis costs as part of their funeral.

You can apply to Social Security Scotland for Funeral Support Payment to help with burial, cremation or alkaline hydrolysis costs.

Help towards burial and cremation costs in Scottish council areas

The tables show how much help Social Security Scotland can give you in different Scottish council areas for a:

burial and plot
burial only
cremation

This help is for adults aged 18 or over. In Scotland, it usually does not cost anything to bury or cremate a stillborn baby, a baby, child or young person.

Find out how much help you can get for funerals held:

Local council help towards burial and cremation costs
Local council	Burial and plot	Burial only	Cremation
Aberdeen City	£2224	£1012	£830
Aberdeenshire	£2503	£1167	£880
Angus	£1722.65	£830.25	£1320
Argyll and Bute	£2291	£1052	£1034
Clackmannanshire	£2144.19	£1055.05	£1166.10
Dumfries and Galloway	£1695	£1019.6	£999
Dundee City	£2,333	£687.50	£1,250
East Ayrshire	£2136.5	£1114.5	£1080
East Dunbartonshire	£2,409	£1,088	£1095
East Lothian	£2160.91	£1047.38	£947
East Renfrewshire	£1330	£1330	£985
Edinburgh City	£3127	£1670	£947
Falkirk	£2494	£1175.5	£1,166.10
Fife	£1878	£922	£970
Glasgow City	£2690	£1148	£866
Highland	£1,661	£1,003	£1,003
Inverclyde	£2455.6	£1182.05	£925
Midlothian	£2351	£1094	£947
Moray	£2,347	£1,228	£1,260
North Ayrshire	£1926	£932	£1295
North Lanarkshire	£2361.35	£1459.5	£1095
Orkney Islands	£1955	£1003	£1,003
Perth and Kinross	£2125	£1085	£905
Renfrewshire	£2108.6	£1006.6	£985
Scottish Borders	£2530.6	£1040	£1125
Shetland Islands	£1568.9	£756.7	£1003
South Ayrshire	£2082	£1041	£1080
South Lanarkshire	£2571.83	£1113.88	£942.51
Stirling	£2046	£1408	£1200
West Dunbartonshire	£2405	£1044	£993
Western Isles	£1250	£550	£1,003
West Lothian	£2228.8	£1088.45	£1225

Costs for someone who lived in England, Wales or Northern Ireland

You can get help if you live in Scotland and need to pay the burial, cremation or alkaline hydrolysis costs for someone who lived in:

England
Wales
Northern Ireland

You can apply to Social Security Scotland for help.

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Information

Help towards burial and cremation costs in Scottish council areas

Find out how much help you can get for funerals held:

On or after 1 April 2025

Costs for someone who lived in England, Wales or Northern Ireland