Obituary Monitoring Service

The right starting point depends on whether you need to find an existing notice or watch for one that may appear later.

• Manual obituary search: useful when you need an answer now. Search by name, then narrow by location, publication date or age. Legacy describes these search filters. You must repeat the search to find later notices.
• Google Alerts: a free way to receive emails about new Google Search results for a topic or name. You can change frequency, sources, language and region in the alert settings. Expect unrelated results and do not assume every obituary will be included.
• A dedicated monitoring service: worth evaluating when you have several people to track or need a persistent review history. Ask which sources it actually checks, how it handles duplicate notices and whether it distinguishes a possible match from a verified identity.

For an existing notice, start with our obituary search by name guide. Monitoring serves a different need: checking again over time.

1. Check existing notices. Try the full name with a last known city, then try a maiden name, nickname or middle initial separately. A narrow search can miss someone who moved.
2. Gather a few identity clues. Approximate birth year, prior locations and known relatives can help distinguish people with the same name. Keep only details you need; do not upload sensitive documents to a search alert.
3. Choose the sources and cadence. For Google Alerts, try queries such as "Jordan Ellis" obituary and a separate name-and-city query. For a specialist service, check its source list and whether its most recent check succeeded.
4. Review each lead. Open the original notice, compare more than the name, and record why you accepted or dismissed it. A forwarded email, copied notice or numeric score is not independent verification.

Use Google's alert instructions to create and manage an email alert. These example names are fictional.

1. Start with a name. Enter a query such as "Jordan Ellis" obituary in Google Alerts and review the preview.
2. Try an alternate query separately. For example, "Jordan Ellis" Phoenix or "Jordan A. Ellis" obituary. Requiring a city, middle initial and obituary in every result may hide a useful notice.
3. Choose delivery settings. Under Show options, review frequency, source types, language, region and the receiving account. Then select Create Alert.

In Google Search, quotation marks request an exact phrase. Compare a quoted name with an unquoted search before settling on your alerts: an exact phrase can miss a middle name or different spelling.

Keep a baseline manual search for existing notices. Alerts concern new search results; they are not a complete death register or a promise of immediate notification.

• No emails: check that the alert is enabled in the right Google account, review its delivery settings, and check spam. No email does not mean the person is alive.
• Too many people with the same name: try one location or name variant at a time. Keep a broader query as a comparison, especially if the person may have moved.
• A known notice never appeared: search the original publisher directly. A notice being online is not a guarantee that your alert will find it.
• The same notice keeps appearing: compare the original source and publication details. Reposts are not independent confirmations of identity.

A small private search log can prevent repeated work and premature conclusions. Record the check date, source, name/query used and outcome. For a possible notice, keep its original link, publication date and stated date of death separately, plus the reason for your decision.

• No relevant result: note which source and query you checked. This describes that search, not whether the person is alive. Try a name variant or another relevant source.
• Possible match: keep it unresolved while comparing age, relatives and locations. Two copies of one notice are still one underlying source.
• Conflicting identity: note the specific conflict rather than relying on a score. The fictional review example below shows how an age conflict changes the decision.
• Check failed or source unavailable: record that no usable check completed. Retry later or search the publisher directly; do not count it as a successful no-match check.

For example: October 3, fictional local archive, Jordan Ellis with Phoenix; page unavailable; no conclusion; retry needed. That is more informative than marking the person as having no obituary.

Keep your log private and limited to what you need. Do not put identity documents, account details or a private watchlist into public search queries. If your task is to notify organizations about a known death, see the difference between receiving and reporting.

This fictional example illustrates a possible match, not a real death notice or a live IfTheyDie result.

You are watching Jordan Ellis, approximately 70 today, last known in Phoenix. A notice has the same name and city but says the person died this year at 48. The name and city are supporting clues; the conflicting age is a reason to pause, not something a high score should override.

• Read the source for relatives, former cities and biographical details you recognize.
• Keep the publication date separate from the stated date of death. Never infer one from the other.
• Compare ages at the same point in time. An older notice may give an age at death that differs from today's estimate. Check the stated year of death and any birth date before treating that difference as a conflict.
• If key details conflict, dismiss the lead or leave it unresolved until you have better evidence.
• Keep the source link and your reason for the decision. Avoid forwarding an uncertain death claim.

A match score can help order a review queue. Unless its accuracy has been measured, it should not be read as a percentage chance that the person has died.

• Coverage: Which publishers, locations and languages are included? Does the service have an authorized way to access those sources?
• Freshness: Can you see the last successful check and a delayed or failed check? A scheduled job is not proof that new records arrived.
• Identity review: Are conflicting ages and locations visible? Can you dismiss a false match and correct a mistake?
• Evidence: Can you open the original source? Are copied notices grouped together instead of counted as separate confirmations?
• Privacy and cost: Who can see your list? How do you delete it? Are alerts, source access and the number of monitored names included in the price?

Not everyone receives a public obituary. Notices can appear late, omit identifying details, or remain outside a service's sources. No match does not establish that someone is alive, and a notice with the right name does not establish identity.

An obituary is also different from an official death record. If you need a certificate, USAGov explains how to contact the relevant vital records office. See death records vs. obituaries for the distinction, and our coverage limits before relying on monitoring.

We are building IfTheyDie for the people you still wonder about: an old friend, former coworker, mentor or relative you no longer see. The intended workflow is a private list, possible public-source matches and a deliberate review step.

We are not offering a guaranteed nationwide death feed or instant death verification. Join early access for availability updates. Until access and coverage are confirmed, use the search and alert options above for checks you need today.

The waitlist is free and does not start billing or alerts. Review planned pricing and coverage limits before deciding whether the intended service fits your needs.