An obituary tells people that someone has died, gives them what they need to attend the service, and says in a few paragraphs who the person was. Most follow the same order: name, age, town and date of death; a short life story; the family; the service; where to send donations. For a newspaper, 200 to 400 words is typical, and you pay by the line. Online you have more room. Whatever the length, have a second family member check every name and date before it runs.
Obituary, death notice or news obituary
Three different things go by the name obituary. Knowing which one you are writing settles the length, the price and who controls the text.
| Type | Who writes it | Cost | Typical length |
|---|---|---|---|
| TypeDeath notice | Who writes itFamily or funeral home | CostPaid; a few small papers print it free | Typical lengthAbout 40–150 words |
| TypePaid obituary | Who writes itFamily, often with the funeral director | CostPaid by the line | Typical length200–400 words in print |
| TypeNews obituary | Who writes itA reporter at the paper | CostFree; the paper decides | Typical lengthVaries |
This guide is about the paid obituary, the one families write. If the person was well known in your town, you can also let the newsroom know. Editors choose which news obituaries to run, and buying a notice does not change that decision either way.
What to include, in order
Readers look for two things first: confirmation of who died, and when and where the service is. Put the first at the top and make the second easy to find. This is the logic of the news story's inverted pyramid: the essential facts first, everything else in falling order of importance, so the piece still does its job for someone who stops after one paragraph.
1. The announcement
One sentence with the full name (add a nickname in quotation marks if everyone used it), age, town and date of death. Where and how are optional: "at home", "surrounded by family", "after a short illness".
2. The life story
Two or three paragraphs. Cover the facts people will look for (where they grew up, in general terms; their work; marriage; military service; the church, union, team or town they belonged to), then add the details that make the person recognizable to someone who knew them. Chronological order is the easiest to write. Ordering by theme often reads better when one thing defined the life: the farm, the classroom, forty years of Little League.
3. The family
Survivors usually come in this order: spouse or partner, children (with their spouses in parentheses), grandchildren and great-grandchildren, then parents and siblings, then anyone else the family wants named. "Preceded in death by" lists close family who died earlier. For a large family, name the children and siblings and give numbers for the rest: "nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren". Local custom varies, and the funeral director will know what your paper usually prints.
4. The service
Day, date, time and full address of the funeral, memorial or celebration of life; visitation, if there is one; burial or interment. If the service is private, say so, or people will turn up. If it will be later, write "A memorial will be held in the spring" and post the details when you have them.
5. Donations and thanks
"In lieu of flowers" points mourners to a charity, often one tied to the person's life or illness. Use the charity's exact name. Many families also thank a hospice team or the caregivers by the name of their organization. A closing line (a favorite saying, a verse) is optional and works when it sounds like the person.
On length: Legacy.com, which hosts obituaries for many US newspapers, puts the typical printed obituary at about 250 to 300 words. Check your paper's limit before you write. Online there is no practical limit, but the long stories belong in the eulogy, where people can hear them.
How to write it, step by step
- Find out where it will run
Ask the funeral director whether they write, place or post obituaries. Many funeral homes post them on their own website, and some include a newspaper placement in the package. For a newspaper, get four things before you write: the word or line limit, the price per line, the photo requirements and the deadline, which at some papers is early afternoon the day before publication.
- Collect the facts and spellings
Put every name, date and place in one list and have it confirmed by someone who knows: a spouse, a sibling, the funeral director. Spell each name the way that person spells it, in-laws included. Editors keep a style sheet of names and spellings for every book; one page does the same job here, and it saves you when three relatives send corrections.
- Ask for stories, not adjectives
Call two or three people who knew the person in different parts of life: a sibling, a coworker, a neighbor. Ask questions that produce scenes. What did she do on Saturday mornings? What did he fix, build or grow? What did she always say? What will you miss seeing? Write down their exact words. One good detail is worth a paragraph of praise.
- Write the fixed parts first
Draft the announcement, the family and the service details before anything else. They are facts, they are not negotiable, and once they are on the page you can see how much room is left for the life story.
- Draft long, then cut to the limit
Write freely, then cut. When you pay by the line, cut in this order: adjectives, ideas said twice, the names of grandchildren (give the number instead), then minor jobs and memberships. Keep the announcement and the service details whole.
- Read it aloud and get a second check
Reading aloud catches missing words and sentences that run too long. Then give it to a family member who did not help write it and ask one question: is anyone missing or misspelled? That is the mistake families remember for years.
A complete example
Here is an obituary for a fictional woman, written to the structure above. It runs about 240 words, a common length for print.
Ruth Ellen Marsh, 84, of Calder Falls, died Sunday, March 8, 2026, at home, with her two daughters beside her.
Ruth grew up on a dairy farm in northern Minnesota, where she learned to drive a tractor at nine and took over the farm's books at twelve. She married Thomas Marsh in 1963, and together they ran Marsh Hardware on Main Street for 31 years. Customers came in for one bolt and left with advice on their gutters, their tomatoes and, if they lingered, their children.
She taught Sunday school at First Lutheran for four decades, kept bees until she was 80 and entered her rhubarb pie at the county fair every August. It placed second eleven times. She said the judges were at least consistent.
Ruth is survived by her daughters, Karen (Mike) Lindqvist of Duluth and Joan Marsh of Calder Falls; her son, David (Priya) Marsh of Seattle; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and her sister, Lois Peterson of Bemidji. She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Thomas, and her brother, Carl.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 14, at First Lutheran Church, 210 Elm Street, Calder Falls, with visitation from 10 a.m. Burial will follow at Lakeside Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests gifts to the Calder Falls Public Library, where Ruth volunteered every Tuesday morning.
The family thanks the nurses of Calder County Hospice for their care in her final weeks.
Notice what it leaves out: no birth date, no street address, no parents' names, and only two hobbies, each with a detail attached. The pie line does more work than "she loved to bake" ever could.
If the paper charges by the line, the same obituary can be cut to a death notice for print, with a pointer to the full text online:
MARSH, Ruth Ellen, 84, of Calder Falls, died March 8, 2026. Survived by children Karen Lindqvist, Joan Marsh and David Marsh; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; sister Lois Peterson. Funeral 11 a.m. Saturday, March 14, First Lutheran Church, Calder Falls; visitation from 10. Memorials to Calder Falls Public Library. Full obituary and guest book on the Calder Falls Funeral Home website.
Tone, wording and the hard parts
Write the way the family talks about the person. A formal register suits some lives and flattens others, and a tone a little lighter than you expect is usually fine: the readers knew the person too, and they will recognize the dry remark about the pie judges.
"Died" or "passed away"? Both are fine in a family obituary. News obituaries use "died", and the AP Stylebook tells reporters to avoid euphemisms such as "passed away" outside direct quotes. In a paid notice, use the words the family uses at the kitchen table.
Specific
- She drove four hours each way to every one of her grandson's swim meets.
- He knew every cashier at the grocery store by name and asked after their kids.
- She grew forty kinds of tomatoes and gave most of them away.
- He signed every birthday card with a bad pun and a drawing of a duck.
Generic
- She was devoted to her family.
- He never met a stranger.
- She was an avid gardener.
- He had a wonderful sense of humor.
Cause of death
You do not have to give one. "After a long illness" or "suddenly" is enough, and so is nothing. Some families name the cause to answer the question before people ask it, or to speak plainly about cancer, addiction or suicide. If you mention suicide, leave out the method and the place, as suicide-reporting guidelines for journalists advise.
Divorce, blended families and estrangement
List the family as the person lived it. Stepchildren raised in the house can be listed with the other children, without the "step". Many families leave a former spouse out of the survivors; others include them, especially when they raised children together. Either is acceptable.
Estrangement is harder, because a survivor list is public and permanent, and a missing child is the first thing some readers will notice. If the family cannot agree, one way through is to name only the spouse and give everyone else as numbers: "three children and seven grandchildren".
What to leave out
An obituary is public, it stays online for years, and a few of the people who read it are looking for an identity to borrow or a house that will be empty on Saturday morning.
Leave out old grievances as well. An obituary is not the place to settle who did the caregiving or who stopped calling. Medical detail, money and the estate stay out too, unless the family has a reason to include them.
Where to publish and what it costs
The funeral home's website
Funeral homes commonly post obituaries on their own site with an online guest book, and many will submit the text to the local paper for you. Ask what the package already includes before you pay anyone else.
The newspaper
Newspapers price obituaries like classified ads: by the line, with a minimum and a fee for a photo. Many will not print one until they have confirmed the death, usually with the funeral home, so have its name and phone number ready. Rates vary widely. As of October 2026, the Tampa Bay Times starts at $80 for five column lines and charges $12 for each line after that, with a column line holding about 20 characters. A photo is $50 a day, and a $30 online guest book is added to notices of six lines or more.
At those rates, the full example above comes to about 80 lines, or roughly $1,000 for one day in print before the photo. The death notice version is about 20 lines and roughly $300. Small community papers usually charge less, and a few still print a short death notice free, with a word cap and no photo. Before you pay, ask how the paper counts a line, whether the online posting is included, and to see a proof.
Memorial sites and social media
Memorial websites host a longer obituary with photos and a guest book, and some have free plans; check the current terms before you sign up. A post on the family's social media accounts with a link to the full obituary reaches the friends, former coworkers and old classmates the paper never will.
Timing
If the obituary gives a service time and place, publish it several days ahead so people can arrange travel and time off. A fuller obituary can follow later. There is no deadline: families publish them weeks or months after a death, often when the memorial date is set.
Check it before it runs
If you would rather start from a page with the parts already laid out, the obituary template follows the same order, and the obituary examples show how different lives fit the same structure.
Frequently asked questions
Who usually writes the obituary?
Usually a family member: a spouse, an adult child or whoever in the family is best with words. The funeral director often helps with the format and submits it to the paper. Whoever writes it, the closest next of kin should approve the final text.
Do you have to include the cause of death?
No. Many obituaries give none, or say only 'after a long illness' or 'suddenly'. Some families name the cause to spare themselves the question or to speak openly about illness or addiction. It is the family's choice.
How soon after a death is an obituary published?
Usually within a few days, so it appears before the service. If it lists a time and place, publish several days ahead. Newspapers need the text by their deadline, often the afternoon before. A longer obituary can run later; there is no deadline.
How much does it cost to put an obituary in the newspaper?
It depends on the paper and the length. Most charge by the line, plus a fee for a photo. At one large Florida daily, a five-line notice starts at $80 and a 240-word obituary comes to about $1,000 for one day. Ask the paper or the funeral home for a quote.
Can you write your own obituary?
Yes, and some people do, often while planning their funeral. Keep it with your will or funeral wishes and tell someone where it is. Your family will still need to add the date, the survivors and the service details.
