c.

3 ELIZABETH II

Model Northern
Ireland Assembly

Child Funeral Support Act (Northern

Ireland) 2017
TERM 2 CHAPTER 3

An Act to create the Northern Ireland Child Funeral Support Fund for Northern
Ireland, inline with the rest of the United Kingdom so that much of the costs
involved with children's funerals are, or can be, covered by the government..
[12th May 2017]

B E IT ENACTED by being passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly and

assented to by Her Majesty as follows:

Definitions
1.(a) Northern Ireland cremation and burial fee refer to the cost of the
cremation or burial specifically.
(b) Headstone or cremation memorial stone refers to a slab of stone set up
at the head of a grave or at the site of ashes.
(c) A guardian refers to the following
(i) the deceased's parent(s),
(ii) the deceased's legal guardian,
(iii) a police officer in consultation with relatives,
(iv) a Health and Social Care Trusts individual professional, or
(v) a sibling of the deceased that is over the age of 18 at the time of the
deceased's death.

Use of Fund
2.(a) A Northern Ireland Child Funeral Support Fund will be created.
(b) The Fund will cover the cost of the following
(i) the Northern Ireland cremation and burial fees, and
(b) the cost of a headstone for burials, or a cremation memorial stone, up

1
c. 3 Child Funeral Support Act (Northern Ireland) 2017

to 800.

Applications and requirements

3.(a) For coverage of the cremation and burial fees, local authorities must
apply to the Northern Ireland Child Funeral Support Fund.
(b) The Department for Communities will set up an online application process
on their designated page of the government website, and will also make a non-
Internet process available to applicants.
(c) For coverage of the headstone or cremation memorial stone costs, a
guardian of the deceased must apply directly to the Northern Ireland Child
Funeral Support Fund via the methods described in subsection (b).
(d) For access to the Fund, the following criteria must be fulfilled
(i) the deceased died before turning the age of 16, and
(ii) the deceased was a citizen of Northern Ireland.
(e) A death certificate and a passport, birth certificate, or other form of proof
of citizenship will be required as evidence for the criteria in subsection (d),
respectively.

Costings
4.(a) The Department for Communities will allocate 12,000,000 of its
annual budget to the Northern Ireland Child Funeral Support Fund.
(b) Any administrative costs will be paid for by the Department for
Communtiies.

Extent, commencement, and short title

5.(a) This Act shall extend to the entirety of Northern Ireland.
(b) This Act shall come into force no longer than 3 months after being granted
Royal Assent.
(c) This Act may be cited as the Child Funeral Support Act (Northern Ireland)
2017.