Key points
- Web alerts can catch some news, but miss many obituaries.
- Funeral home and newspaper sites rarely offer name alerts.
- An obituary monitoring service checks many sources for you.
Why alerts are helpful
Searching the same websites again and again takes time, and it is easy to miss a notice that appears weeks later. An alert lets you stop searching and still be informed.
Your options
- General web alerts, which can catch some news but often miss funeral home pages.
- Following a funeral home or newspaper, which only covers that one source.
- An obituary monitoring service, which checks many sources every day.
Let us keep watch for you.
We check funeral homes, newspapers and memorial sites every day and email you when a matching notice appears.
How monitoring helps
A monitoring service watches for the name you add, checks funeral homes, newspapers and memorial sites every day, and emails you when a likely match appears.
Official resources.
- Google AlertsFree web alerts from Google
- FamilySearchFree genealogy and death records
- Where to Write for Vital RecordsCDC: death records office in each state
Common questions: how to get notified when someone dies.
A good service uses details like location and age to reduce alerts about the wrong person.
Sometimes, but they often miss funeral home pages and notices for common names.
A good service uses location and age to reduce alerts about people with the same name.
With daily checks, you are usually told within a day of a notice being published.
No. This guide is general information to help you get started. For legal matters, speak with a qualified professional.
Yes. Add a name to The Passings and we check funeral homes, newspapers and memorial sites every day, then email you if a matching notice appears.
This guide is general information to help you get started. It is not legal advice.