How to Write an Obituary in 2026: Step-by-Step Guide With Examples

Obituary writing - memorial service music planning — Obituary writing – memorial service music planning

An obituary is not just a death notice with a date attached. It is a short, carefully written story that tells a community who a person was, what they cared about, and who they left behind. Families usually write one in the first 48 hours after a death, often while grieving and making funeral arrangements at the same time. That pressure is exactly why a clear structure helps: when you know which facts belong in which paragraph, a blank page becomes a fill-in-the-blank exercise instead of a creative crisis.

This guide walks through the entire process in order, from gathering the facts to publishing the finished notice, with a section-by-section template, two worked examples, a cost comparison table, and answers to the questions families ask most often. It also explains how the cost of publishing an obituary fits into the wider funeral bill and how a life insurance death benefit can cover those expenses before the estate is settled.

What Is an Obituary and Why It Matters

An obituary is a public, factual, and personal announcement of a death. Historically it ran in a local newspaper; today it is just as likely to appear on a funeral home website, a newspaper’s online memorial page, or a family-managed memorial site. Whatever the medium, an obituary does four jobs at once: it confirms the death, it announces service details, it summarizes a life, and it gives readers a way to express sympathy or make a memorial gift.

Because obituaries live online for years, they also become a small piece of family history. Genealogists rely on them, distant relatives find them through search, and a carefully written obituary often becomes the reference other family members copy for their own records. That is why accuracy matters more than elegance: a wrong middle name or a missing child is a permanent error that a family may have to ask the publication to correct.

One practical point up front: an obituary is not the same thing as a eulogy. The obituary is written before the service and published; the eulogy is spoken during the service. Many families write the obituary first and then use it as the factual backbone for the eulogy, which is a sensible division of labor when the same exhausted relative is handling both.

The Standard Obituary Structure, Step by Step

Almost every published obituary follows the same seven-part order. Write the parts in this sequence and you will never be stuck staring at a blank page.

Announce the death. Full name, the fact of death, date and place of death, and age. Some families also include the cause if it was a long illness the community already knew about; many do not.
Set the scene. Birth name, birth date and place, and parents’ names. This is the “once upon a time” line.
Trace the early years. Where the person was raised, schools attended, formative activities, awards, and any early achievements.
Cover work and service. Career, employer, years of service, military branch and rank, honors, and discharge status.
Tell the love story and the family. Spouse, date and place of marriage, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, siblings, and close companions.
Describe what they loved. Faith, hobbies, volunteer work, clubs, causes, and the small habits that made them recognizable to neighbors.
Close with service details and memorial instructions. Visitation, funeral, burial, reception, and where donations or flowers should be directed.

Two optional additions are common in 2026. The first is a short line about the person’s wishes regarding donations in lieu of flowers, which saves the family from answering the same question fifty times. The second is a photograph, usually the same portrait the family already selected for the funeral home’s memorial page.

Section-by-Section Template With Sample Wording

The table below turns the seven-part structure into copy-ready prompts. Fill the right-hand column with your own facts, then read the whole thing aloud once before sending it anywhere.

Section	What to Include	Sample Wording
Death announcement	Full name, age, date and place of death	“Margaret Ann Ellis, 84, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, died peacefully at home on March 4, 2026.”
Early years	Birth name, birthplace, parents, siblings	“Born June 2, 1941, in Dubuque, she was the daughter of Harold and Ruth Neely and the second of four sisters.”
Education and work	Schools, career, employer, years	“She graduated from Iowa State Teachers College in 1963 and taught third grade at Lincoln Elementary for 31 years.”
Family	Spouse, marriage date, children, grandchildren	“She married Robert Ellis in 1965 and is survived by their two children, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.”
Interests and service	Faith, volunteering, hobbies, memberships	“A lifelong member of First Methodist, she volunteered at the food pantry every Tuesday for two decades.”
Service details	Visitation, funeral, burial, reception	“Visitation will be Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., with a funeral service Saturday at 10 a.m. at the church.”
Memorial instructions	Donations, flowers, special requests	“Memorials may be directed to the Cedar Falls Food Pantry in lieu of flowers.”

If the person served in the military, add the branch, highest rank, and the fact of an honorable discharge. Veterans’ families can also request a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government-furnished headstone or marker at no cost, details that are worth a single sentence in the obituary because they often generate correct questions rather than confused ones.

A Short Worked Example You Can Adapt

Here is a complete, publishable-length obituary built from the template above. It runs about 220 words, which is a comfortable length for a newspaper column and an ideal length for a funeral home page.

Margaret Ann Ellis, 84, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, died peacefully at home on March 4, 2026, surrounded by her family. Born June 2, 1941, in Dubuque, she was the daughter of Harold and Ruth Neely. She graduated from Iowa State Teachers College in 1963 and taught third grade at Lincoln Elementary for 31 years, where generations of students remembered her for the reading corner and the gold stars. She married Robert Ellis in 1965; he died in 2019. She is survived by two children, Daniel (Katherine) Ellis of Ames and Susan Ellis of Cedar Falls; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and her sister Carolyn Neely. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and two sisters. A lifelong member of First Methodist, she volunteered at the food pantry every Tuesday for two decades and never missed a spring planting. Visitation will be Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Richardson Funeral Home, with a funeral service Saturday at 10 a.m. at First Methodist Church. Memorials may be directed to the Cedar Falls Food Pantry in lieu of flowers.

What to Include and What to Leave Out

Editors at newspapers and funeral homes see the same avoidable problems again and again. Keeping the two lists below in view while you write will spare your family a correction request later.

Include: legal and preferred names, exact dates, locations, survivors by relationship, service times, and where memorial gifts should go.
Include: one or two concrete details that make the person specific, such as a job, a volunteer role, or a lifelong hobby.
Include: a photograph with a clear caption if the publication allows it, and the maiden name for married women, which is the single most useful detail for extended family searching later.
Leave out: estrangements, family disputes, and any relative who must not be named.
Leave out: causes of death such as suicide or overdose unless the family has explicitly decided to share them. If you do share, confirm the wording with everyone before publication.
Leave out: home addresses, exact birth dates of living minors, financial details, and anything you would not want searchable for the next twenty years.
Leave out: inside jokes and long anecdotes. The obituary is the announcement; the eulogy is where those belong.

Death Notice vs. Obituary vs. Eulogy

Families often use these three words interchangeably, but publications price and format them differently. Knowing which one you are writing prevents an expensive surprise when you place the notice.

Format	Length	Who Writes It	Typical Use
Death notice	2-5 lines	Funeral home or family	Service logistics only; often the lowest-cost newspaper line rate
Obituary	150-500 words	Family, funeral home, or staff writer	Full life story plus service details; published online and in print
Eulogy	3-7 minutes spoken	Family member, friend, or clergy	Delivered at the service; not published unless the family chooses

Where to Publish and What It Costs in 2026

Publishing costs vary enormously, and the cheapest option is often the one families overlook. Ask the funeral home whether a memorial page is included in the service package before you buy newspaper space.

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Where It Runs	Typical 2026 Cost	Time to Publish	Notes
Funeral home website memorial page	Included with most service packages	Same day	Usually includes guest book, photo gallery, and a donation link
Online-only newspaper obituary	Roughly $50-$150	Same to next day	Often bundled with a print insertion
Local newspaper, print	Roughly $8-$20 per line, often $150-$500 for a full obituary	1-3 days	Price depends on column lines, weekday, and photo fees
Major metro daily	Often $300-$1,000+	1-3 days	Readership is large; ask for the online-only rate
Family-run memorial site	Roughly $0-$100 per year	Immediate	Permanent URL you control; good for the full-length version

Because most families now publish in two places, a practical approach is to write one long version for the memorial page and a trimmed 150-word version for the newspaper, sending the short one to print and keeping the full story online.

How Life Insurance and Final Expense Coverage Fit In

Obituary placement, visitation, the funeral service, and burial or cremation are all due within days, while probate and estate settlement can take months. A final expense policy or a term life policy with a living beneficiary is designed to close that timing gap: the death benefit is paid directly to the named beneficiary and is generally not part of the probate estate, so funds are available to the family much sooner than assets that must pass through the courts.

If the deceased had employer group coverage, check both the certificate and the portability rules, because group life and supplemental group benefits often end at termination and are easy to overlook. Beneficiaries can also claim the one-time Social Security lump-sum death payment through the $255 death benefit process, which is small but simple to request.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should an obituary be?

A print obituary is usually 150 to 300 words, while an online memorial version can run 400 to 600 words. Longer is acceptable online because length costs nothing there, and family searching for the notice often wants the additional detail.

Who usually writes the obituary?

Responsibility is typically assigned to one close relative or to the funeral director, who will often draft from an intake form the family completes. Designating a single writer and a single reviewer prevents conflicting versions from being submitted to two publications.

How much does it cost to publish an obituary?

Funeral home memorial pages are usually included in the service package. Newspaper obituaries commonly run from about $50 for a simple online notice to $150-$500 for a full print column, and larger metro papers often charge $300 or more once a photo and multiple days are included.

Should the cause of death be included?

There is no legal requirement to include it. Many families name a long illness the community already knew about and omit sudden or sensitive causes. If you do include it, make sure every immediate family member agrees before publication.

Can I write my own obituary in advance?

Yes, and it is increasingly common. Drafting your own obituary saves your family an emotionally difficult task, ensures the facts are correct, and lets you record details only you know. Keep a copy with your will and other important documents.

Do I need to mention life insurance in an obituary?

Never list policy numbers, carrier names, or benefit amounts in a public obituary. Instead, make sure the beneficiaries named on the policy are current, since the death benefit is paid by contract, not by the obituary. Our guide to burial insurance explains how smaller policies are arranged for exactly these expenses.

How do I correct a mistake after publication?

Contact the publication’s obituary desk immediately, in writing, and ask for a correction or an updated online version. Online notices can usually be edited, while print corrections are typically published as a short follow-up line.

Watch: How to Write an Obituary That Honors Their Life

The video below walks through the same sequence used in this guide, from the opening birth details to the closing service information, with commentary on tone and length.

Authoritative Resources

Federal Trade Commission – Complying with the Funeral Rule: the itemized price list your funeral home must provide.
Social Security Administration – Survivors Benefits: eligibility for survivor payments and the lump-sum death payment.
USA.gov – How to Get a Death Certificate: how many certified copies to order and who can request them.

Get Your Free Life Insurance Quote

Funeral and obituary costs land in the first week, long before an estate is settled. Compare no-obligation quotes from more than 50 carriers in minutes and see what a policy sized to your family’s actual expenses would cost. Start your free quote today and give your family a funded plan instead of a to-do list.

Related reading: our guide to bereavement fares in 2026 covers which airlines still offer a bereavement fare, who qualifies as immediate family, and what documentation is required.