Death Notices and Funeral Notices
When someone dies, some families put a notice in the paper or online to let people know. You’ll hear ‘death notice’ and ‘funeral notice’ used as if they’re the same thing, but they usually do different jobs.
Death notice
A death notice tells people that someone has died. It’s about the person and their family, and might include their full name, date of death, their age (if the family wants it in), close family members, a short message or verse, and funeral details if they’re already known.
It’s handy when you want friends, relatives and the community to know before the funeral has been sorted.
Funeral notice
A funeral notice is about when and where the funeral or memorial will be. It might include the date, time and place, whether it’s a burial or cremation, details of a wake, any requests about flowers or donations, and a livestream link if there is one.
Every newspaper does it a bit differently. Some let you combine the two into one notice, others keep them separate.
Do you need both?
No. You don’t need either, actually. There’s no requirement to publish anything.
Some families do a death notice first and a funeral notice later, some combine them, and some skip the paper altogether and tell people directly, by phone, social media or an online memorial page. My mum didn’t want a big announcement in the papers. She knew we’d let the people who needed to know, know. It really comes down to who you want to reach, what feels right, and what it costs.
A few examples
Death notice
Funeral notice
Combined notice
The wording can be as formal, simple or personal as you like. It’s your notice.
One more thing
If you’d like a hand working out what to include or how to word it, just get in touch.