If the person who died was 17 or under
You can use the payment towards funeral costs for a baby, child or young person aged 17 or under. This includes babies who were stillborn.
A stillbirth is when a baby is born after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy showing no signs of life. You'll have gotten a stillbirth certificate if your baby was stillborn.
If your baby was born alive before 24 completed weeks of pregnancy and later died, you can also get Funeral Support Payment.
A miscarriage is a pregnancy loss that happens before 24 completed weeks. Funeral Support Payment cannot help pay funeral costs for a miscarriage.
Funeral Support Payment usually will not cover the full cost of a funeral. The expected average total payment is £1,800. In Scotland, it usually does not cost anything to bury or cremate a baby, child or young person aged 17 or under. This means your payment might be lower.
It can help pay towards:
- burial or cremation costs
- funeral costs
- your travel costs
- transport costs to move the baby, child or young person
- document costs
- medical costs
Costs you'll be able to get help with
Burial or cremation costs
Most local councils in Scotland do not charge to bury or cremate a baby, child or young person aged 17 or under.
In some locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the local council will charge for the burial or cremation.
In these cases, the payment will usually cover the cost in the local area where the baby, child or young person lived.
If you're applying for burial or cremation costs for a baby that was stillborn, Social Security Scotland will use the address on the application to work out what you can get. This can be their parent's address or the address of someone applying for them.
Social Security Scotland can only work out how much you'll get when they know where someone lived before they died. This is because different locations have different burial or cremation costs.
Funeral costs
You can get a payment of £1,257.75 to put towards any other funeral costs you need to pay for, such as the funeral service or funeral car.
Your travel costs
You can get help towards travel costs for one return journey to either the:
- place where you're arranging the funeral
- funeral location
This includes travel by bus, train and car. You can sometimes get money towards travel by taxi, boat and plane. It does not include travel in a funeral car.
Other costs you might be able to get help with
Transport costs to move the baby, child or young person
If you need to move the baby, child or young person more than 49.7 miles, you can get help towards the cost of this.
You'll have to pay for the first 49.7 miles of any return journey. Social Security Scotland can only help pay for the travel over 49.7 miles, as long as the travel is within the UK. Make sure the funeral director puts the full travel distance onto your bill. This includes the distance of any return journeys.
Document costs
You can get money towards medical certificates needed to bury or cremate someone. For example, a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.
Medical costs
You can get money for the cost of certain medical procedures needed before the funeral can go ahead.
Example of how much you could get
The child who died was 5 years old and lived and died in Fife. The person responsible for the funeral would be able to get a total payment of £1,269.75.
| Payment | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cremation costs There is no local council fee for cremation of a five year old child in Fife. |
£0 |
| Funeral costs This is a fixed amount of £1,257.75 if the funeral is for a child or young person who was 17 or under. |
£1,257.75 |
| Travel costs The person responsible for the funeral lived in Edinburgh and needed to travel from Edinburgh to Fife for the funeral. |
£12 |
| Transport costs There were no costs to move the child over 49.7 miles to the funeral location. |
£0 |
| Document costs The person responsible for the funeral did not need to pay for any medical certificates. |
£0 |
| Other costs There were no costs for any medical procedures. |
£0 |
| Total | £1,269.75 |
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback