Read recent and archived obituaries and memorial notices from Toronto Star. (2024)

FAQs

How do you find a person who passed away? ›

Read The Paper or Watch The Local News

If you receive a physical newspaper, review the obituaries section to see who recently passed. Searching for someone who died more than 30 days ago? Turn to sites like Google News Archives, US News Archives, or International News Archives.

Most obituaries appear as a newspaper obituary in a local or national newspaper. However, there are also online obituaries available, such as the MyLife and MyMemorials services at PartingWishes.com.

An average obituary can easily be $200.00-500.00. Costs vary by publication. Newspapers charge by the line and can average $450 for a complete obituary. The average obituary cost begins at $200.00 and increases due to the amount of content, including a photograph and the length of the obituary.

A basic online search may reveal an obituary or information about a memorial service. Type the person's name and words like “death,” “obituary,” or “memorial” and any personal information you may have, such as their date of birth or names of close relatives who could be mentioned as one of their surviving kin.

The first place to look for free death records in Ontario is online. The Office of the Registrar General has an online database where you can search for death records by name or date of death. The database is updated regularly and contains records dating back to 1869.

Standard Certificates of Death may be released to anyone.

Death Certificate

It can be obtained through the provincial vital statistics office, and there will be a cost for each copy. You will find a list of provincial vital statistics offices at the end of this document.

No, obituaries are not legally required, but many choose to include them in their End-of-Life Plan as a part of their estate plan. Your estate consists of everything that you own: your house, your car, your bank accounts, your possessions, and your debts.

Legacy.com. Search the world's largest obituary database.

This reading may be performed by a family member, a close friend, or a designated individual. The purpose of the obituary reading is to share important details about the deceased person's life, allowing everyone present to reflect on their accomplishments, relationships, and contributions.

Why do newspapers charge so much for obituaries? ›

Why does it cost so much to post an obituary? Publishing an obituary in the newspaper is expensive because of the limited space papers have. Newspapers value every inch of each page, so they must charge to use that limited space for an obituary.

Many newspapers charge by the line or inch for obituaries, not by the word. This means how much physical space the text will take up in the printed newspaper.

Placing an obituary in The New York Times starts at $263.00.

Internet Public Library – Finding Obituaries – An updated guide on searching for obituaries. Legacy.com – This site allows you to search for recently published obituaries, a small fee is required to view most results. Obituary Central – A database that searches for obituaries and performs cemetery searches.

The SSA provides an extract from its file for distribution through the Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service. Because this extracted file deals with deceased persons, the information is considered to be in the public domain.

Funeral home records vary in format and content, but they can all be valuable for determining someone's death date. Check genealogical and historical societies; state, county, and local libraries; and municipal archives for possible holdings.