When someone passes away, their surviving family usually submits an obituary to the local newspaper, online memorials, or even just the funeral home’s website. That said, this is not a legal requirement, so not every family submits one. So if there’s no obituary, you may need to leverage other tools to determine if someone died.
To help you save time and money, we’ve created a guide that will help you every step of the way. Read on to learn more about how to find out if someone died (no obituary).
Is There Always an Obituary When Someone Dies?
No, there is not always an obituary when someone dies. In fact, obituaries are not mandated by states, and you’ll find that obituaries are usually submitted by family members. For this reason, you won’t always be able to find an obituary, even if someone has died. However, it’s usually worth checking, especially if someone is popular in the community.
How to Find Out If Someone Died No Obituary
If you want to find out if someone died and there’s no obituary, there are a few tools you can leverage. These tools vary, so it’s important to choose the right options, especially if you want to save time. The best options include person search tools, search engines, and county offices. However, you can also get creative with social media or contact the family.
Learn more about each option below.
Person Search Sites
The best way to find out if someone has died without an obituary is to use a person search site. These websites allow you to comb through millions of public records at both the state and federal level. We always recommend Information.com because the barrier for entry is low. In other words, anyone can use it, and all you need is someone’s first and last name, address, and phone number.
From there, the tool will comb through all available public records to compile a comprehensive full report. Within this report, you’ll find information about someone’s passing and much more.
Search Engines
Depending on the popularity of the person, you can try running a search on a standard search engine. The best search engine for the job tends to be Google, but you can also try Bing and other popular search options. All you need to do is enter some information about the person into the search bar and wait for the results to populate.
Then, you can scroll through the results until you find more information about their passing. Depending on the tool, you may also be able to leverage an advanced search function that allows you to add or remove context.
County Offices
When someone dies, a record is made and kept by the county. For this reason, you should be able to access these records if you know where someone passed away. The best office to check is the county clerk’s office, but you can also check with local courts, especially if someone was involved in a court hearing about their death.
Depending on the county, you may also find online databases associated with these offices. While you may need to pay to use them, they tend to have accurate and current information.
Social Media Accounts
Depending on the person, you may be able to determine if they’ve died via social media. If someone is famous, people will probably post about their passing. However, even if they’re not popular, that doesn’t mean loved ones haven’t posted about their passing. In fact, there may even be an obituary or something similar on their account.
In order for social media to be effective, you’ll need to know their name and learn more about the people connected to them. For more help with this, we recommend starting with a person search site to get the details you need.
How Find Out If Someone Died No Obituary: Final Thoughts
It’s never been easier to find out if someone died; no obituary is necessary. There are plenty of tools available for free online. That said, we always recommend starting with Information.com for the best results. All you need is someone’s first and last name, address, and phone number to discover all publicly available information about them, and this includes death records.
Still, you can leverage search engines and other tools, like social media accounts, to find the information you’re after. In fact, you can always drop into local county offices to learn more about someone’s death.