Bereavement Support
If you have lost a loved one to motor neuron disease (MND), you are not alone. We are here to support you through this difficult time and to help you find the support you need.
Our bereavement counselling service
When someone you love dies of MND, it can feel very distressing, isolating and confusing, and there is no right or wrong way to express grief.
Talking to someone outside your family or circle of friends may help you better understand your feelings and manage your difficult circumstances.
Our free bereavement counselling is available to you six months after your loved one has passed away. You can access this service if you are over 18 years of age and live in Scotland.
How our counselling service could help you
Our Counselling Service could help you manage your situation by:
- Allowing you to speak openly about the emotional impact of living with MND
- Helping you adjust to changes in your health, abilities and daily life
- Providing personalised support that’s tailored to your individual circumstances
- Supporting you to focus on what matters most to you, even as things change
- Reducing the sense of fear, anxiety or depression you may be feeling
- Helping you find ways to live alongside difficult thoughts and feelings, rather than be overwhelmed by them
Resources
We want you to know that while you can refer yourself to our counselling service at any time after a bereavement, we begin counselling sessions from around six months after the death of your loved one. This is because the first few months after a bereavement are often a time of natural grieving, and research shows that counselling can be more helpful when some time has passed to allow for this initial period. In the meantime, there are organisations in Scotland that offer immediate emotional support for those who have been recently bereaved:
Anticipatory grief
Support is available for the grief process leading up to an expected loss.
Anticipatory grief
Support is available for the grief process leading up to an expected loss.
Dealing with grief
These resources are available to help you navigate your grief.
Dealing with grief
These resources are available to help you navigate your grief.
Support for children and young people
Our research shows that children and young people in particular need more support with loss. We are working closely with bereavement organisations to gather best practice and the most appropriate way to help our children and young people.
Support for children and young people
Our research shows that children and young people in particular need more support with loss. We are working closely with bereavement organisations to gather best practice and the most appropriate way to help our children and young people.
Practical support
There are organisations that can help you deal with the practical things you need to think about when you lose someone to MND.
Practical support
There are organisations that can help you deal with the practical things you need to think about when you lose someone to MND.
Focused support
Whatever your personal circumstances, there is support out there for everyone.
Focused support
Whatever your personal circumstances, there is support out there for everyone.Need urgent help?
If you need to speak to someone right now about difficult emotions you’re experiencing, you can reach out to:
Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
Breathing Space on 0800 83 85 87 or visit breathingspace.scot
Message SHOUT to 85258 for 24/7 text support
Bereavement Support
In this deeply moving video, Beverley, Sandra, and Marina open their hearts and share the stories of their beloved husbands—Alan, Iain, and Alasdair—who were taken too soon by motor neuron disease (MND).
Practical Support Following a Bereavement
Dealing with benefits and administrative matters can feel challenging in normal circumstances, but we know that these things can feel significantly harder if you are recently bereaved.
Our National Support Advisers are here to assist you through this difficult period. If you would like their expert advice, please do get in touch. They will be ready when you are – making sure you feel equipped to move forward.
If you do not feel ready to speak with an adviser, or would prefer to just get some guidance beforehand, please see below for general information which may help.
Tell Us Once
When you register a death, the registrar should discuss the government’s Tell Us Once service with you.
The Tell Us Once service allows you to ensure that governmental bodies are informed about the person’s death after just one phone call or online process. The service will notify, among others, HMRC, DVLA, the Passport Office, DWP, Social Security Scotland, and the relevant local authority.
The registrar will either go through the Tell Us Once process with you or give you a unique reference number which allows you to complete the process on your own. You will have 28 days to use the reference number.
Tell Us Once do not have the ability to notify private businesses, so you may still need to contact places such as: banks, mortgage and/or insurance providers, utility companies, landlords or housing associations, personal or workplace pension schemes (unless they’re one of the public sector pension schemes that Tell Us Once contacts)
Benefit Checks
Following a bereavement, we would recommend a new check for benefit entitlement, especially if the person who has died was your partner, or you have benefits which were paid in relation to your caring.
Our advisers are experienced, they can sensitively and confidentially check potential entitlement, based on your new circumstances.
Funeral Support Payment
A Funeral Support Payment is financial assistance towards the cost of arranging and holding a funeral in Scotland. Social Security Scotland administer Funeral Support Payment – it is a benefit payment.
If you apply for a Funeral Support Payment, you will need to show that you are the most appropriate person to take on the responsibility of arranging and paying for the funeral. This usually means demonstrating that there was not a surviving relative or person who was closer to the person who has died.
To qualify for a Funeral Support Payment, you must be receiving a means-tested benefit at the time of your claim (Universal Credit, Income Support, Pension Credit, Income-related Employment & Support Allowance, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction) and you must claim within 6 months of the date of the funeral.
The average Funeral Support Payment is around £2000, so it may not cover all the costs involved, but can help, nonetheless.
If you have questions about Funeral Support Payment, please contact us and ask to speal with one of our National Support Advisers.
Bereavement Support Payment
If the person who has died was your partner, you may be able to claim a Bereavement Support Payment.
To apply for a Bereavement Support Payment, you need to have been under state pension age when your partner died, and you must have either been married or in a civil partnership. You can also qualify if you had been living together with your partner as a married couple, but only if you are receiving Child Benefit for a dependent child or are pregnant.
To qualify, your partner also must have paid enough National Insurance contributions in any one tax year since April 1975.
Bereavement Support Payment has two parts: an initial lump sum, followed by 18 smaller monthly payments. The lump sum is either £2500 or £3500 – the higher amount applies if there is a dependent child living in the household. The monthly payments are either £100 or £350 – again, the higher payment is for those responsible for a dependent child.
How soon you claim can impact the amount of Bereavement Support Payment you will receive. It is best to claim within 3 months of your partner’s death, as this should ensure you receive the lump sum and all 18 monthly payments.
Our experienced advisers can answer questions you might have about Bereavement Support Payment, please get in touch if you would like their support.
