Cruse Bereavement Support
Bereavement and family court proceedings collide more often than people expect: a parent dies mid-proceedings, a grandparent dies and contact arrangements collapse, a child loses a parent and the surviving parent's care is questioned. Cruse Bereavement Support is the UK's largest bereavement charity, offering free trained support to adults and children.
REVIEWED BY: Sean McNamara on 2026-09-01
What Cruse is
Cruse Bereavement Support (formerly Cruse Bereavement Care) is a national charity providing free, confidential bereavement care to anyone who has lost someone. It trains volunteers to offer telephone, online and face-to-face support, runs a national freephone helpline, and produces specialist resources on grieving — including for children and young people, and for deaths that are sudden, violent or contested (as in inquests).
What help it offers
- National helpline: 0808 808 1677 — free; check current opening hours on the Cruse website.
- Email, webchat and self-referral to local bereavement services across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Children and young people — specialist support and a dedicated youth area, helpful where a child has lost a parent and family time arrangements need to take grief into account.
- Resources for grief after suicide, after an inquest, and after a death linked to abuse — common, painful contexts in family cases.
- Local branches — face-to-face sessions with trained bereavement volunteers.
How a self-representing parent can use Cruse
1. Death of a party during proceedings. If the other parent, or the person you were caring for, dies during a case (see our guide on death of a party during proceedings), Cruse supports the adults and children involved while the procedural side is sorted out. 2. Children's grief in a s.8 case. If Cafcass or the guardian raises how a child is coping with a death, evidence that the child is receiving bereavement support through Cruse is a concrete, welfare-focused fact you can put before the court. 3. Grief affecting your parenting. Courts are used to parents whose care dipped after a death. Showing that you recognised the impact and got support from Cruse reads very differently to unaddressed struggle. 4. Kinship carers. Grandparents and relatives who take on care after a death (kinship care, special guardianship) often need support for the child's grief as well as their own.
Cruse is not a legal service. It does not give evidence, reports or legal advice; it supports the people.
Contact details
- Helpline (free): 0808 808 1677
- Website: https://www.cruse.org.uk
- Children and young people support: https://www.cruse.org.uk/understanding-grief/
Useful links
- Cruse home: https://www.cruse.org.uk
- Grief support for children: https://www.cruse.org.uk/understanding-grief/
- Childline (for children needing to talk): https://www.childline.org.uk
This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws, procedures and contact details change — verify anything important against the official sources linked above before relying on it. Your Family Case is an independent directory listing; we take no referral fees and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or receiving payment from any organisation listed.
Content verified against the official HMCTS court directory, gov.uk forms and fees pages, and the professional body registers (SRA, FMC, Bar Council). Last reviewed September 2026.