Informing people about a death

You may well be faced with the daunting task of letting friends and family know that somebody has died. There may be a large amount of people to tell and you will also have to deal with their varying reactions to the news. Think about whether you want to tell people face-to-face or over the telephone. It might be a good idea to delegate some of the responsibility for passing on the news to one or two people close to you. Try to keep things simple and avoid getting into long conversations which you may find you would have to repeat over and over again.

Dealing with reactions

You will find yourself having to deal with the grief of others as well as your own feelings. Be prepared for the fact that everybody is different. People may react in a way you feel is inappropriate but it might just be their individual way of coping with the news. Expect all sorts of different reactions but try to spend as much time as you can dealing with your own grief and those very close to you rather than focusing too much on everybody else. After all, they will usually have their own people to support them.

Please click to view a full list of who to inform following a death.