How long should an obituary be?

The full obituary is usually 300 to 500 words. The printed newspaper notice is under 150 words, because papers charge by the line. Write the full version first and cut it down for the paper.

What should an obituary include?

In order: the announcement (full name, the name they used, age, where and when they died); where they came from (birth, parents, where they grew up); their life (work, marriage, children, what they loved); the people they leave; and the service details, flowers or donations, and where to send messages.

What is the difference between an obituary and a death notice?

A death notice is the short paid announcement in the newspaper: name, age, date, survivors and service details. An obituary is the longer piece about the person's life. Many families write both, the long one for the funeral home website and the service and the short one for the paper.

How do I write an obituary for my mother or father?

Collect the facts first: full name, dates, places, work, the family tree, the service details. Then write their life in order and add two or three specific things that were theirs, a saying, a habit, something they made. Read it out loud once and have a second family member check every name and date.

Guide · 16 October 2026

How to write an obituary: what to include, in order, with a full example

The announcement, where they came from, their life, the people they leave, the service. 300 to 500 words, under 150 for the paper. Example lines for every part.

The short answer

An obituary has a fixed order: the announcement (full name, age, where and when they died), the life in order (birth, family, work, what they loved), the people they leave, and the service details. 300 to 500 words for the full version, under 150 for the newspaper notice. Write it from facts, in their words where you can.

What to include, in this order

1. The announcement

Full name, the name everyone used, age, where they died, the date, and who was with them if that matters to the family. One or two sentences. This is the part the newspaper and the funeral home need first.

“Margaret Ann Hale, known to everyone as Peggy, died at home in York on 3 March 2026, with her two daughters beside her. She was 84.”

2. Where they came from

Date and place of birth, parents, brothers and sisters, where they grew up, school. A short paragraph. One small true detail here does more than a list of dates.

“She trained as a teacher after her mother told her, firmly, that she was too clever to do anything else.”

3. Their life

Work, marriage, children, the places they lived. Then the things that were theirs: the garden, the Sunday roast, the football club, the habit everyone will remember. This is the longest part and the one people read aloud at the service. Write what they did, not a list of adjectives.

“She was known for her garden, which she would not let anyone else weed, and for her Sunday roasts, which she would not let anyone else carve.”

4. The people they leave

“She is survived by” or “She leaves”: partner, children and their partners, grandchildren (named or counted), brothers and sisters. Then “she was preceded in death by” for a partner or child who died before her, if the family wants it.

5. The service and the family’s wishes

Date, time and place of the funeral or memorial; whether it is open to all; flowers or donations and to which charity; where to send messages. Check every date and spelling twice; this is the part that goes wrong most often.

The short notice for the newspaper

Most papers charge by the line, so the printed notice is a cut-down version: name, age, date, place, the people they leave, and the service details. Under 150 words. Write the full obituary first, then cut; it is much easier than writing the short one first.

A full example

A complete sample, the full obituary (about 400 words) and the short notice (under 150), is on the sample page. It is labelled as a sample: Margaret Hale and her family are made up. Use it for the shape and the tone, then put your own person in it.

Six things that make it sound like them

Use the name people used. “Peggy” in the text, the full legal name once in the first line.
One or two of their own sayings, in quotation marks, if the family remembers them.
Specific over general. “The classroom by the boiler” beats “a dedicated teacher”.
Say how they died only if the family wants to. “After a short illness” or nothing at all is fine.
Name the grandchildren or count them, but do the same for everyone. Missing one child or grandchild is the mistake families regret most.
Read it out loud once before you send it anywhere. If a sentence is hard to say, it is hard to read.

Common mistakes

A wrong date, a misspelled name, or the wrong charity in the service details. Check with two people.
A list of virtues (“kind, generous, loving”) with no story behind any of them.
Leaving the partner or a step-child out of the survivors list.
Writing it the night before the deadline. The paper’s deadline is usually two working days before the service.

If you would rather someone wrote it for you

That is what we do. You fill in a form with the facts about the person, and we write the full obituary and the short notice from them, in this order, within 24 hours, with one free round of changes. Nothing is added that you did not tell us. $49 in the US, £39 in the UK (VAT included), A$75, C$65.

Want the full sample obituary and the checklist of facts to gather?

We email you the whole sample, the short notice, and the one-page list of facts to collect before you write. A few short emails, then we stop. No spam.

Questions

How long should an obituary be?: The full obituary is usually 300 to 500 words. The printed newspaper notice is under 150 words, because papers charge by the line. Write the full version first and cut it down for the paper.
What should an obituary include?: In order: the announcement (full name, the name they used, age, where and when they died); where they came from (birth, parents, where they grew up); their life (work, marriage, children, what they loved); the people they leave; and the service details, flowers or donations, and where to send messages.
What is the difference between an obituary and a death notice?: A death notice is the short paid announcement in the newspaper: name, age, date, survivors and service details. An obituary is the longer piece about the person's life. Many families write both, the long one for the funeral home website and the service and the short one for the paper.
How do I write an obituary for my mother or father?: Collect the facts first: full name, dates, places, work, the family tree, the service details. Then write their life in order and add two or three specific things that were theirs, a saying, a habit, something they made. Read it out loud once and have a second family member check every name and date.
Can someone write the obituary for us?: Yes. On this site a family fills in a form with the facts and we write the full obituary and the short notice from them within 24 hours, with one free round of changes. Nothing is invented.

Have it written for us, $49 From your facts, within 24 hours