How to Find an Obituary for a Specific Person (2024)

FAQs

How to Find an Obituary for a Specific Person? ›

Many funeral homes publish obituaries on their websites. These can usually be located with a Google search on the person's name. Local genealogical and historical societies, public libraries, and some newspaper publishers maintain clipping files of obituaries.

Legacy.com. Search the world's largest obituary database.

Copyright and Obituaries. To be clear, obituaries are protected by copyright. They are creative works of expression that are fixed into a tangible medium of expression. Both the text and the images that make up an obituary are protected by copyright (even if the facts and information are not).

A death notice is a brief, factual statement that announces someone's death to the public. An obituary also includes facts surrounding a person's death, but also includes biographical information, stories, and anecdotes to help honor that person's memory.

Many funeral homes publish obituaries on their websites. These can usually be located with a Google search on the person's name. Local genealogical and historical societies, public libraries, and some newspaper publishers maintain clipping files of obituaries.

Announce the death and include their full name, age, hometown, and date of death. Include a brief summary of their life. Mention family members who have already passed away, as well as surviving family members. Share funeral or memorial service details, including whether they are public or private events.

Keep in mind the length: the average size of an obituary is approximately 200 words, but some publications may accept obituaries as long as 450 words or as short as 50 words.

Unpublished works when the death date of the author is not known may still be copyrighted after 120 years, but certification from the Copyright Office that it has no record to indicate whether the person is living or died less than 70 years before is a complete defense to any action for infringement.

Why would someone not want an obituary? ›

The family might not have a service, so they felt no need for an obituary, as obituaries are often used to provide information on the funeral. The family may have disagreements about what to include in the obituary.

Online obituaries and death notices

Typically, discovering if an individual has passed away is facilitated by perusing obituaries available on various online platforms. The practice of sharing obituaries and death notices on the internet has surged in popularity over the last few years.

Posting an obituary is not a legal requirement and is a sentimental action. Families don't have to publish one if they don't want it or do not have the funds to do so. While you do not have to share a death note or obituary, you must file a death certificate with your state's office.

The best way to get accurate information about a deceased person is with deceased public records. Accessing comprehensive personal information, like addresses and assets, is important to gather a full picture of a person's life.

Create a memory ritual

It might be something small like visiting their favourite spot in the garden each day, placing flowers on a grave or looking through a well-loved photo album with their favourite drink in hand. It might be something much bigger, like an annual trip to their favourite place, or throwing a party.

The SSA provides an extract from its file for distribution through the Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service. Because this extracted file deals with deceased persons, the information is considered to be in the public domain.