How to Know If Someone Has Passed Away in 2024

If you’re wondering if and when someone passed away, and asking other people who may have known this person is not an option, there are several ways to uncover this information online. Here are 9 effective methods to confirm if someone has passed away:

1. Legacy.com

Legacy.com is the largest obituary website, hosting obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths.

The website is free to use. You can search for obituaries by entering the person’s first and last names, and you can narrow down the results using filters like Publish Date and Location.

2. FindaGrave.com

FindaGrave.com specializes in making cemetery records easily searchable. It offers details about cemeteries and individual memorials.

Note that recent burials are limited to offer privacy to families, becoming public after three months. And it won’t have an entry if the person you’re looking for was cremated or not put in a grave (buried at sea, etc) but it’s a great place to search.

3. SortedByName.com

SortedByName is a free website with over 220 million genealogy entries. It sources genealogy data from various resources.

You can look up someone’s name on the website, and locate their birth, marriage, divorce, and death records.

4. Ancestry.com

Ancestry is a paid service with an extensive collection of death records, obituaries, cemetery, and burial records. It uncovers details like time and location of death, cause of death, birth information, and next of kin and family origins.

You can start with Ancestry’s 14-day free trial. After the trial, if you decide to continue the service, you’ll be billed $6.49 to $39.83 per month, depending on the plan you choose. The plan renews automatically. If you don’t want to be charged, make sure you cancel your subscription before the trial period.

5. Familysearch.org

FamilySearch.org is a free website offering genealogical records. It allows you to look up someone’s name and find their historical records, family tree profiles, and more. This might give you the date of someone’s death.

For a free service, what you can find with this website is very impressive. However, the records are more limited than what is on Ancestry.

6. FamilyTreeNow.com

Similar to FamilySearch.org, FamilyTreeNow.com is also a decent and free option to track and research someone. It lets you find a variety of information, such as birthdays, ages, possible associates, addresses, and more.

Simply search the person’s first and last name, and under Filter Results, select Death Records to see if you can locate a record linked to them.

7. Genealogybank.com

GenealogyBank is another powerful genealogical service with over 2 billion genealogy records from newspapers, census records, government documents, and more.

You can run an Obituary Search with GenealogyBank to see if you can locate someone’s obituary. Alternatively, you can search GenealogyBank’s Social Security Death Index to find details like birth and death dates, where someone lived, and where they got their Social Security card.

8. Search for An Online Obituary

A simple online search with Google or Bing might reveal an obituary or memorial service information.

If you haven’t done so, simply google the person’s name, location (where they are originally from or where their parents live), and words like “death,” “obituary,” or “memorial”. Be prepared to sift through results, especially for common names.

9. Check Social Networks

If all else fails, you might want to spend some time combing through social networks. Think about who knew the person you’re looking for, such as their siblings, friends, or relatives. Look at their Facebook or Instagram pages for any information they might have shared.


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