How to Write an Obituary, With a Free Template
✍️ The facts, the story, the family and the service details, in the order readers expect. Free fill-in template included.
By Dennis Miguel, CareTabs Marketing Manager
🕐 7 min read
📅 September 2026
It is late, the house is full, and the funeral home needs the obituary by morning. Someone hands you a laptop because you are “good with words.” You open a blank page and cannot remember what year your dad left the Navy.
Most obituaries get written exactly like this: fast, tired, and from memory. A template does not make it easier to grieve. It does make it easier to get the facts right and leave room for the part that matters.
The template below walks you through it in order. Page one is the facts. Page two is the stories and the service. Page three turns your notes into a finished draft.
📥 Get the free obituary template
Three pages. The facts, the stories, and a fill-in-the-blank draft. Type into it on screen or print it.
🧱 Every Obituary Has the Same Five Parts
Readers skim an obituary for two things: who died, and when the service is. Put those where they expect them and you are free to write the rest however it feels right.
- The announcement. Full name, age, city, date of death. One or two sentences. Where they died and “surrounded by family” are optional.
- The life. Where they grew up, the work they did, service, faith, community. This is the longest part.
- What made them them. The hobbies, the phrases, the story everyone tells at Thanksgiving.
- The family. Who survives them and who died before them.
- The service. Date, time, place, and where to send donations instead of flowers.
A death notice is only the first and last of these. If the family wants a short, factual notice in the paper and a longer tribute online, that is common and perfectly fine.
📋 Start With the Facts, Then Write the Person
Gather these before you write a single sentence. Checking a date mid-paragraph is how the draft stalls at midnight. Page one of the template has a box for each.
If you are also handling everything else that week, the what to do when someone dies checklist puts the obituary in the right place among the other deadlines.
💬 One Real Story Beats a List of Adjectives
“Kind, generous and hardworking” describes almost everyone. Readers remember the person when they get one specific moment instead.
“She drove forty minutes every Sunday to bring her neighbor soup” tells readers more than any list of virtues. So does the team they never stopped rooting for, the recipe nobody else can get right, or the phrase they said on the way out the door.
If the eulogy is being written at the same time, the two can share material. Our guide on how to write a eulogy covers the spoken version, and the free eulogy writer can turn the same notes into a first draft.
👪 How to List the Family Without Leaving Anyone Out
This is where families get hurt, usually by accident. Write the list before the prose, and have one relative from each branch check it.
Survived by
Spouse or partner first, then children and their partners, grandchildren, parents, and siblings. Use first names and relationships.
Preceded in death by
Close family who died before them. Usually parents, a spouse, siblings or a child.
Blended families
Stepchildren and former spouses are the family’s call. When in doubt, include stepchildren as children.
Friends and pets
A lifelong friend or a beloved dog can be named. It often says more about the person than the list above it.
🔒 What to Leave Out: the Details Identity Thieves Look For
Obituaries are public, and criminals read them. Experian recommends leaving out the details that help someone open credit in the deceased person’s name.
📰 Where the Obituary Runs, and What It Costs
Most funeral homes post the obituary on their own website at no extra charge, with a guest book for condolences. That link is what most people will share.
Newspapers usually charge, often by the line or by the word, and a photo can cost extra. Ask the paper or the funeral home for the rate before you finalize the length. Some families run a short death notice in print and the full version online.
The funeral home can usually submit it for you. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, any fee for that service should appear on its itemized price list. If you are still choosing a funeral home, our funeral planning checklist lists the questions to ask.
📝 A Short Example You Can Borrow From
Here is what the template’s fill-in draft looks like finished. The family is fictional. The structure is the one readers expect.
Margaret “Peggy” Alvarez, 81, of Oceanside, died peacefully on September 12, 2026, surrounded by her family. Born in 1945, Peggy grew up in Tucson and taught third grade for 34 years, most of them at the same school, where former students still called her Mrs. A.
She never missed a Padres opening day and never shared her tamale recipe. Peggy is survived by her husband of 58 years, Luis; her children Ana (Mark) and David; and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her sister, Rose.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on October 3 at Riverside Community Church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the public library where she volunteered.
Notice what it does not include: a birth date, a middle name, or the family’s street.
🔐 Keep the Obituary, the Photos and the Paperwork Together
The obituary is one document in a week full of them. The death certificate, the funeral contract, the insurance policy, the photos for the service. They end up spread across three inboxes and a kitchen counter.
CareTabs keeps them in one encrypted place, filed under the person, and shared with the siblings who are helping. When the funeral home asks for something at 8 a.m., anyone in the family can find it.
📥 Take the template with you
Fill in page one tonight. The rest can wait until the family has talked.
If the paperwork after the funeral feels like too much, CareTabs Aftercare has a specialist handle it with you, for a flat fee.
Keep Every Family Document in One Secure Place
🗂️ Start FreeFree with 1 GB of storage. No card needed. Share each person’s records with the family members who need them.