Key points
- Start with a simple online search using the full name and the city or state.
- Check funeral home websites near where the person lived.
- Look at local newspaper obituaries and memorial sites.
- If nothing appears, public records and family contacts can help.
- A monitoring service can keep checking for you over time.
Start with a simple search
The quickest first step is a web search with the person’s full name in quotes, followed by the word obituary and the city or state where they lived. For example, "Margaret Collins" obituary Dayton Ohio.
Try a few versions of the name. People are often listed with a middle name or initial, a nickname, or, for many women, a maiden name. If the name is common, adding an age, a spouse’s name or a place of work can narrow the results.
Check local funeral homes
Most obituaries are first posted by the funeral home handling the service. Many funeral homes have an obituaries page on their own website, and these are often updated before newspapers or other sites.
Search for funeral homes in the town where the person lived, and in nearby towns too. Families do not always choose the closest one.
- Look for an Obituaries or Tributes link on each funeral home’s website.
- Search the page for the last name, since first names are sometimes written differently.
- Check again after a few days, because notices are not always posted right away.
Let us keep watch for you.
We check funeral homes, newspapers and memorial sites every day and email you when a matching notice appears.
Look at newspapers and memorial sites
Local newspapers publish obituaries and shorter death notices, both in print and online. Large memorial websites also collect notices from many newspapers and funeral homes in one place, which makes them a useful second stop.
Keep in mind that no single website lists every death. A notice that appears on a funeral home site may never appear in the paper, and the other way around.
If you find nothing
Not finding an obituary does not always mean the person is alive. Some families choose not to publish one, and some notices are posted weeks or months later.
You can also try public death records for the state, social media posts from family members, or a polite call to relatives or a mutual friend.
If you need to know over a longer period, an obituary monitoring service can keep checking funeral homes, newspapers and memorial sites for you, and email you if a matching notice appears.
Official resources.
- Where to Write for Vital RecordsCDC: death records office in each state
- How to get a death certificateUSA.gov
- Social Security AdministrationReporting a death and survivor benefits
Common questions: how to find out if someone has died.
Search their full name with the word obituary and their city, then check local funeral home websites and the newspaper. If nothing appears, try public death records or ask family and friends. You can also set up an alert so you hear if a notice is published later.
No. In the United States there is no single public list of every death. Notices are spread across funeral home websites, newspapers and memorial sites, so it helps to check several places.
Many obituaries appear within a few days, but some take weeks. It depends on the family, the funeral home and the newspaper.
Yes. A monitoring service watches for a name and sends you an email when a matching obituary is published.
The full name, any nicknames or maiden names, the city and state where the person lived, and an approximate age.
Yes. Funeral homes can often confirm whether they are handling a service, though they may not share private details.
No. This guide is general information to help you get started. For legal matters, speak with a qualified professional.
This guide is general information to help you get started. It is not legal advice.