Condolence Notes: What to Say

Advice from Legacy.com experts on what to say in a sympathy note, how to express condolences

When someone you care about is grieving, it's hard to find the right words. When should you send a condolence card? How do you write a thoughtful and memorable condolence note? What common sympathy expressions should you avoid? To help you comfort and support a grieving colleague, friend or family member, LegacyConnect offers advice from condolence experts. Click on the links below to learn more about how to write condolence notes, what not to say and more.

How to Write a Sympathy Note

• Why Write Sympathy Notes?
• Writing a Condolence Note
• Writing a Condolence Note to a Grieving Child or Adolescent
• What Makes a Condolence Note Memorable?
• Timing Your Condolence Notes
• Condolence Stationery
• Speaking of the Deceased
• Leaving a Message

Condolences for Specific Situations
• When Loss Hits the Workplace
• Condolences from the Group
• What to Say When Someone Dies Unexpectedly
• Supporting the Bereaved After a Suicide
• Youth Suicide: What You Can Say and Do to Help the Survivors
• When a Baby Dies
• Grieving Miscarriage
• How to Be Supportive After a Miscarriage
• What to Say to a Grieving Spouse
• What to Say When Someone's Ex Dies
• What to Say: Rocky Relationships
• Expressing Condolences for Difficult Relationships

What NOT to Say
• What Not to Say
• People Want to Be Helpful, But...
• Is It Ever Appropriate to Question the Bereaved?
• Making Amends for Something You Said

Ways to Show Sympathy and Support
• The Gift of Listening
• Why Is It So Hard to Listen?
• 7 Ways to Listen Better
• 6 Distractions That Hamper Listening
• 6 More Distractions That Hamper Listening
• The Importance of Empathy

How to Write an Obituary or Eulogy
• Giving a Eulogy
• Star Eulogies

Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons/Lachlan Hardy

Comment

Comment by briandenewellis on December 28, 2010 at 9:49am

My condolences to the Addams family!

Comment by briandenewellis on December 28, 2010 at 9:49am

My condolences to the Addams family!

Comment by Lonnie W. Hurt on December 9, 2010 at 8:05am

is this where I write my condolance?

Comment by Lonnie W. Hurt on December 9, 2010 at 8:05am

is this where I write my condolance?

Comment by Jennifer thompson on September 26, 2010 at 5:15am

BRENDA ,I LOVE YOU SO MUCH .AND YOU WILL B MISSED SO MUCH . AND WILL B THINKIN OF YOU EVERYDAY, KNOWIN YOURE NOT IN NOMORE PAIN.I LOVE YOU LOVE ALWAYS UR LITTLE SISTER JENN

Comment by Carrie Skinner on June 16, 2010 at 12:01pm

Our prayers are with you in this time of sorrow. Oakview Homeowners Assoc

Comment by Gil Serique on May 18, 2010 at 10:46pm

i am sorry tolearn about it. He was a great great friend.we hadsome short and unforgetable time together. May you and your family be in peace.

Comment by alice sheppard on April 7, 2010 at 12:18am

For all the famleys who lost love one in this terrible mine explosion,I pray god will give you all the stregnth to get through this very hardtime. Only his grace can get you through lean on him.I wish i could say a prayer and take your pain away but, I want you to know i will have you in my prayers

Comment by lea on March 18, 2010 at 9:43am

To Ron's family,
I graduated from Middletown North with Ron, and couldn't believe the news. I hadn't talked to Ronnie in many years, but remember him fondly as a great guy, who loved his family, and made everyone around him happier. I am so very sorry for your loss.
Lea (Pavlicek) DeCosta

Comment by Yvonne on March 4, 2010 at 2:08pm

Natalie, I was sadden to hear of your loss. Remember He is a comforter. My prayers are with you and the entire family.

Sarah Minnis-Detelus

Comment by Alvin Little Pink Anderson on February 23, 2010 at 3:40pm

Nate will always be remembered fundly by me. May God Bless you the Family in this time of sadness.My prayers are with you.
Alvin Little Pink Anderson

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