Having to write an obituary is hard enough. But then once you’re done you have the added part of having to get it into the newspaper.
There are so many extra questions that you might not have originally considered: who do I send this to, how much is it going to cost and have I already missed the deadline?
It feels like it should be simple, and in fairness it mostly is, but every paper does things a little differently and grief is not the time you want to be chasing an obituary desk for answers. So this is a simple guide to help you through it.
Where to send it, what the paper will ask for, what you can expect to pay and mistakes that people make when they’re already exhausted.
If you haven’t written the obituary yet, start with our obituary templates first then come back here for the submitting part.
Obituary or Death Notice: Which One are you Submitting?
Before you send anything it helps to know which of the two you’re placing because how papers handle them and the price is different.
A death notice is the short, factual announcement. Name, age, date of death and the funeral or memorial details. It’s usually put and paid for by the family or the funeral home.
An obituary is the longer piece that tells the story of a life. Their accomplishments, the family left behind, a few lines about who they really were etc.
These days the two words get used almost interchangeably and most newspapers file both under the same “Obituaries” or “Obits” heading. The difference for you is the length and cost.
A death notice is cheaper because it’s shorter. A full obituary costs more because it takes up more space on the page. If money is tight that matters and I’ll come back to it later.
If a short announcement is really all you need our guide to death announcements covers the wording for that.
Where Can you Publish an Obituary?
You’ve got more options than just the local paper and it’s worth thinking about before you commit to one.
- The local newspaper where your loved one lived. This is the most common choice and reaches the neighbors, friends and community who knew them day to day.
- Their hometown paper, if they moved away later in life. A lot of families run the obituary in two papers, the town where someone grew up and the town where they spent their final years, so both communities hear the news.
- A national newspaper, if your loved one was well known professionally or publicly. This is pricier and usually only worth it for a bigger audience.
- Industry, church or community publications. A trade journal, a parish newsletter, an alumni magazine. If someone spent their life inside a particular community that’s often where the people who’ll want to know are.
- Online obituary platforms and funeral home websites. These are cheaper, often free and let you include more photos and a guestbook for condolences.
You don’t have to choose just one. A common and sensible approach is a short paid notice in print so the community is informed, along with a fuller obituary published online where being longer won’t cost anything. That combination usually gives you the widest reach for the least money.
How to Submit an Obituary to a Newspaper
This is the process from start to finish. Most of it is straightforward once you know the order to do things in.
1. Decide Which Paper or Papers
Pick where you want it to run using the options above. If you’re publishing in more than one place note that each paper handles submissions separately and prices them separately so you’ll have to repeat these steps for each one.
2. Find the Obituary Desk or Submission Page
Go to the newspaper’s website and look for the “Obituaries” or “Obits” section. Most papers have a link there for placing a notice.
A lot of newspapers don’t manage this in house and use a company called Legacy.com to handle submissions, so you may be routed there to place and price the obituary. Legacy’s tool lets you place a notice across thousands of papers, which is handy if you’re publishing in more than one.
If it’s a small local paper or a community newsletter there may not be a formal system. In that case just contact the editor directly and they’ll walk you through it.
3. Check the Paper’s Requirements
Before you send your text find out what the paper actually accepts. Ask about:
- Word, line or character limits
- If you can include a photo and the photo specs and file format they want
- How they want the text submitted, usually email or an online form
- Any verification they require
That last one is important. Some papers won’t publish an obituary unless it comes through, or is verified by, a licensed funeral home. It’s a fraud prevention measure and it means you may need the funeral director to submit it on your behalf.
4. Ask About the Deadline Before Anything Else
Newspaper obituary deadlines are tighter than people expect. Many papers need your submission by mid to late afternoon the day before publication and weekend and holiday editions often have earlier cut offs.
If you want the obituary to run before the funeral so people can attend work backward from that date and give yourself a buffer. Missing a deadline by an hour can push publication back a full day.
5. Get a Price Before you Commit
Ask what it’s going to cost for the length and options you want so there are no surprises. Pricing varies a lot and I’ve broken down what to expect in the next section.
If the paper charges by the line ask how many words fit in a line so you can estimate the total and cut it down if you need to.
6. Proofread it, Then Have Someone Else Proofread it
Once an obituary is printed it’s printed. There’s no going back.
So read it slowly, out loud if you can, and then give it to a second person. Fresh eyes will see something you might miss.
Double check the spelling of every single name and every date. Misspelled names are one of the most common errors and they’re the ones families remember.
7. Submit and Ask for a Proof
Send the text and photo through the paper’s chosen method. Then ask for a proof and a preview of how it’ll look before it goes to print.
Most papers will send one if you ask. This is your last chance to catch a typo, a wrong date or a formatting problem, so don’t skip it.
8. Confirm Publication and Keep a Copy
Check the date it’s scheduled to run, and once it’s published, look at it again to make sure everything came through correctly. Buy a physical copy or save the online version. Families often want a keepsake, and you’ll be glad you kept one later.
How much does it cost to publish an obituary?
Newspaper obituaries cost far more than most people assume. There’s isn’t one national price either because every paper sets its own rates based on its local ad market.
As a rough guide a newspaper obituary commonly costs somewhere between $100 and $500. A short notice in a small community paper can come in under $100 while a longer piece in a major metro daily can get above $1,000.
The top tier national papers like the New York Times sit right at the high end where a full obituary can get into four figures once you account for length.
The reason for the spread comes down to how papers charge. Most price by the line, the inch, or the word and the fees usually build up like this:
- An insertion or flat fee, a fixed charge just to publish, regardless of length.
- A per line or per word fee. Local papers often charge a few dollars a line. Major metros can charge $50 or more per line. Per word you’ll typically see anywhere from about 10 cents to a dollar.
- A photo fee. Adding a picture usually costs extra, anywhere from around $25 up to a few hundred dollars depending on the paper.
- A processing fee, a small percentage on top to cover handling and card processing.
- A per-day charge. If you want the obituary to run more than one day each extra day adds to the total.
What counts as a “line” can be confusing though. It isn’t a line in your Word document.
A newspaper column line is often only 25 to 40 characters wide, so a heartfelt, detailed obituary takes up far more lines than you’d guess and the cost rises fast. An inch of column space works out to roughly 10 to 14 of those lines.
Online obituaries are the more affordable alternative. They usually cost between $50 and $100 and many funeral homes and online platforms host them for free.
Because there’s no print space to pay for you’re not charged by the line, so you can include the full story, extra photos and a guestbook without watching a meter tick.
Ways to Keep the Cost Down
You don’t have to spend a fortune to do right by someone. A few ways you can cut down the bill:
- Split print and online. Run a short, factual death notice in the newspaper so the community is informed then publish the full obituary online where length is free.
- Tighten the writing. Because print charges by length, every cut down line saves money. Keep the print version lean and let the online version have the greater details.
- Skip the photo in print. Photo fees add up. You can always include photos in the free online version instead.
- Choose one paper, not three. Reach matters, but so does budget. Pick the paper that reaches the people who most need to know.
- Ask about a shorter run. One day in print is often more than enough. The obituary lives on permanently online anyway.
It’s worth remembering that far fewer people read a physical paper than they used to. Print newspaper circulation in the US has fallen dramatically over the past few decades which is why online obituaries have become the norm. Paying premium print rates for a wide audience doesn’t always get the reach it once did.
Letting the Funeral Home Handle it
Something a lot of families don’t realize until later is that the funeral home will usually submit the obituary for you. It’s often included as part of their services in fact.
Funeral directors do this constantly. They know each local paper’s deadlines, formats and quirks, and as I mentioned, some papers require the submission to come through a licensed funeral home.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed getting them to to take it in is completely reasonable and it’s sort of what they’re there for. You provide the text and the photo and they take care of the placement.
Just ask two things upfront: whether submitting the obituary is included in their fee or charged separately and which papers or platforms they’ll be posting to. That way there are no surprises on the invoice.
Mistakes that Cause Problems
There’s a few issues that come up again and again. None of them are your fault they’re just easy to miss when you’re grieving.
- Missing the deadline. The most common one. Confirm the cut off before you do anything else, especially for weekend editions.
- Misspelled names. Check every name against a reliable source.
- Wrong service details. The date, time and location of the funeral or memorial have to be right because people are relying on them to show up.
- Not asking for a proof. Always request a preview before it prints. It costs nothing and saves you being disappointed.
- Underestimating the cost. Get the price in writing before you approve so you’re not shocked by a bill in the hundreds.
- Forgetting to keep a copy. Save the print clipping or the online link. You’ll want it for the memory box and for other family members.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have to publish an obituary?
No. There’s no legal requirement to publish an obituary or a death notice anywhere. Families choose to do it to inform the community, share funeral details and create a lasting record. It’s a personal decision.
Can you publish an obituary for free?
Yes, online. Many funeral home websites and online memorial platforms host obituaries at no cost. Print newspaper obituaries almost always carry a fee. A common way to do it is a free online obituary with a short paid notice in the paper.
How long does it take for an obituary to appear?
If you meet the paper’s deadline an obituary usually runs within a day or two. Online obituaries can appear within hours, sometimes almost immediately. Always confirm the publication date when you submit.
Do you need a funeral home to submit an obituary?
Not always, but some newspapers require it as a verification step. If you’re publishing independently contact the paper’s obituary desk directly. Otherwise your funeral director will usually handle the submission for you.
Can you publish an obituary in more than one newspaper?
Yes, and many families do, typically in the hometown paper and the paper where their loved one lived most recently. Each paper is submitted to and paid for separately though a tool like Legacy.com can place a notice across several papers at once.
Final Thoughts
Submitting an obituary can feel like one more overwhelming thing to do when you’re already coping with so much. But it doesn’t have to be.
Once you know which paper you’re using, when the deadline is and roughly what it’ll cost the rest falls into place. And remember you don’t have to do any of it alone. Your funeral home can take it off your hands if you want them to.
Take your time with the words themselves because that’s the part that lasts. If you’re still writing the obituary our collection of obituary templates and our worked examples for a mother or father will help you get it right.
