Children's funerals

We will cover the cost of a funeral service, including caring for your loved one, a coffin, hearse and funeral director’s fees. In the case of a cremation, we will cover the cost of the chapel, provision of music, the cremation service and administration.

The policy of free child funerals includes children of all ages, from babies lost during pregnancy through to children up to the age of 18.

Additional costs such as non-standard vehicles, flowers, plaques and memorials, the wake, flowers and orders of ceremony will need to be paid for separately.

Your experienced funeral director can help make suggestions to make the funeral truly personal to your child and your family. They will be happy to help arrange any of these extras on your behalf.

We will oversee all arrangements before, during and after the service. This includes everything from the paperwork and official steps, making arrangements and being present on the day to supervise the occasion and make sure everything runs smoothly.

Our funeral directors have experience in helping to make a funeral truly personal to your child and your family. Our team have handled a variety of requests, from arranging fire engines or “unicorn”-drawn carriages as funeral transport, floral tributes in the shape of favourite toys, through to bespoke coffins and even the funeral director and team dressed as Disney characters. We will do all that we can to make sure that we provide the service that you want. Have a look at the personalised funerals section of our site for more information on how we have worked with families to create a truly unique commemoration.

We can be assured that your loved one will be properly cared for from the moment we bring them into our care. You can arrange to visit your child at any time in our chapel of rest, where you can spend time with them before the funeral if you wish to. If you would rather take your child home, please speak to your funeral director who can make the necessary arrangements.

The Children’s Funeral Fund is a government scheme set up to help to cover the cost of the cremation or burial of a child under the age of 18 or stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy. The fund can also be used to claim £300 towards the cost of a coffin. The fund is not means tested. The burial or cremation must take place in England – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements. If you are using a funeral director, they claim from the fund on your behalf, so there is nothing for you to claim yourselves.

More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/child-funeral-costs.

While our funeral directors do not charge a fee for child funerals, the additional expenses and extras can still add up. Your funeral director can talk you through what help may be available towards those costs.

There are a number of charities and organisations that offer support following the death of a child:

• Child Bereavement UK: Offers support for families when a baby or child dies, or when a child is facing bereavement.
• Compassionate Friends: Support for bereaved parents run by those who have lost a child
• Lullaby Trust: Emotional and practical support for the sudden loss of a baby
• Sands: Stillbirth and neonatal support for families
• React: Support for children with terminal illness

Your local Dignity Funeral Director will help to support you through making arrangements and can suggest ways to make the funeral both personal and memorable.

More support after the death of a child.