Sympathy Letters

How to express sympathy when a friend or relative suffers a loss:

Respectifully describe your admiration
Describe how much the deceased was respected and admired by you and others.

Mention what good things you liked about the person
Write about a few of the deceased person's strengths, achievements, and successes.

Discuss a positive memory
If appropriate, include a short personal story or anecdote involving your relationship with the deceased.

Keep the letter balanced
Strike a careful balance between the formal tone of a sympathy letter and its deeply personal nature.

Keep your sympathy letter short—under one page in length
Remember that a mourner is emotionally drained.

Offer to help in some way
If you can do so sincerely, include contact information such as your cell phone number and your email address.

Even better, just help in some way without being asked
Clean their house. Mow their lawn. Bring over cooked meals. Now is your chance to show true love and charity to the mourner and is or her family.

Comfort the mourner with words of hope and faith
If you have strong religious convictions, mention your belief that the deceased will find peace and happiness in a better world.

Imagine yourself in their situation
Put yourself in the mourner's place and imagine the kind of sympathy letter you would like to receive.

Need example sympathy letters? We recommend 4,001 Business, Sales & Personal Letters. Its includes many sympathy letters offering words of comfort. Empower your writing with: Must-know letter-writing tips Expert help every step of the way Appropriate phrases and sentences Words writers agree work the best  Learn more You will get a variety of sympathy letters for each of these topics: Business Sympathy: Announce bad news to employees Announce the death of an employee or an employee's relative Encourage an employee after a disappointment or a company setback Express regret on the defeat of legislation or the loss of an election Inform employees of another's illness Offer sympathy for loss or damage caused by a theft, vandalism, or natural disaster Offer sympathy for the death of a business associate Offer sympathy for the death of a business associate's family member Offer sympathy for the loss of a job Write a get-well message regarding an employee's or business associate's family member who is suffering from illness or injury Write a get-well message to an employee or business associate suffering from illness or injury Personal Sympathy: Announce the death of a family member, or write the obituary Announce the death of a family member to other family members, close friends, and acquaintances Offer sympathy for a marriage separation or divorce Offer sympathy for the death of a child Offer sympathy for the death of a friend or relative Offer sympathy for the death of a person who has been ill Offer sympathy for the loss or death of a pet Offer sympathy in a case of serious or terminal illness Send a gift with a sympathy letter Thank someone for expressions of sympathy Write a get-well message to a child suffering from illness or injury Write a get-well message to a friend or relative suffering from an illness or injury Get the right words for your letters in three easy steps: Choose from a variety of prewritten sympathy letters that cover many common situations. Copy your letter directly into Microsoft Word or your favorite word processor. Or let our software guide you step-by-step through the writing process, suggesting sample phrases and sentences for each writing step. In minutes, you can write an effective sympathy letter. Print your sympathy letter and send it!