Purpose : The purpose of this study was to develop a tool to assess the need for hospice care in families of patients with cancer. Method: Research design was a methodological study. The tool was developed in 3 stages : first, preliminary items were developed based on a questionnaire about the needs for hospice care that was given to 8 families of patients with cancer; second, a panel of specialists reduced the number of preliminary items using 2 validity tests on the contents. Finally, reliability and validity were tested by a sample of 98 families who have a patient with cancer from April 2003 to July 2004. Result: Cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency was .94 for the final total 22 items. Using the factor analysis, 4 factors with eigenvalue of more than 1.0 were extracted and these factors explained 65% of the total variance. The four factors were labeled as 'control of terminal physical problems', 'emotional care', 'spiritual care for preparing for death', and 'family support'. The final items of the tool developed on the need of hospice care consisted of 22 items. Conclusion : The instrument, for accessing the need for hospice care in families of patients with cancer, developed in this study was identified as a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity. In this sense, this tool can be effectively utilized for implementing and improving hospice care for patients with terminal cancer.