What Not to Put in an Obituary (2026)

If you are wondering what not to put in an obituary, leave out details that can help someone impersonate the person who died or target an empty home. The main items to omit or limit are the full birth date, maiden name, home address, exact funeral time, and any private identifiers such as Social Security number, workplace ID, or financial details.

This is not a guide to writing a meaningful obituary. It is a safety guide for a surviving spouse or family member who wants to share the death with the community without handing useful information to identity thieves.

Why obituary identity theft happens

Obituaries are public by design. They help friends, neighbors, former coworkers, and extended family learn that someone died and find out how to offer support. The problem is that public death notices can also become a source of personal data.

A fraudster may compare an obituary with public records, social media profiles, leaked data, old address records, and mail still being delivered to the home. One detail by itself may not be enough to open an account or answer a security question. Several details together can be.

For a surviving spouse, this can feel unfair. You are trying to write a brief public notice while also handling funeral plans, bills, mail, account closures, and probate paperwork. A safer obituary does not have to feel cold or incomplete. It simply shares what the public needs to know and keeps private facts out of public view.

The biggest things to leave out

Full date of birth

A full birth date is one of the most useful pieces of information for identity theft. If you include the month, day, and year, that detail can be paired with the deceased person's full name and last address to try to access accounts or apply for credit.

Safer options include:

• Age at death
• Birth year only
• A general phrase, such as born in Chicago in 1948

For example, write, "He died at age 78" instead of listing the full birth date. If family members want the exact date for genealogy or a memorial program, share it in a private printed program or family email.

Maiden name and former legal names

A maiden name or former legal name can help with identity checks. It may also be a security question for the deceased, a surviving spouse, or adult children.

If the maiden name is culturally or personally meaningful, consider whether it needs to appear in the public obituary. A safer option is to use an initial, include it in a private memorial program, or share it with family through a private channel.

This choice is personal. The safety question is whether the name could help someone connect the person who died to older records, former addresses, school records, or family member accounts.

Home address

Do not publish the home address of the deceased or the surviving spouse. A street address tells strangers where mail, property, vehicles, documents, and possibly an empty home can be found.

Use a city and state if you want to identify the community. For example:

• Maria Lopez of Tempe, Arizona
• Formerly of Dayton, Ohio
• A longtime resident of Queens, New York

If people need a mailing address for cards, donations, or food deliveries, use a funeral home, a P.O. box, a church office, or a trusted relative who has agreed to receive items.

Exact funeral time if the home may be empty

An obituary that says the service is Friday at 11 a.m. can tell a burglar when the family will be away. This matters most if the obituary also names the surviving spouse, the neighborhood, or the home address.

You can still let people attend. Safer ways to share service details include:

• Posting the service location but asking people to call the funeral home for the time
• Sharing the time through a private family message or email list
• Waiting to publish the obituary until after the service
• Asking a neighbor, friend, or police non-emergency line about extra home watch options during the service

If the funeral home hosts the online obituary, ask what privacy settings are available and whether comments can be moderated.

Social Security number, military ID, and account details

Most people would never intentionally place a Social Security number in an obituary, but private identifiers can appear in scanned documents, military tributes, or memorial images. Before posting photos, check for visible paperwork, certificates, badges, insurance cards, prescription labels, house numbers, or vehicle plates.

You can honor military service without listing full service numbers or sharing document images. Use the branch, rank if appropriate, war or era of service, and public honors instead.

Names and details about surviving family members

Family names are common in obituaries, but they can also help scammers target relatives. This is especially true for a surviving spouse who still lives at the same home or uses shared accounts.

You do not need to remove all family names. Just be careful with added details that create a map of the family. For example, avoid pairing names with birth dates, employers, schools, cities, and children's full names when that information is not needed.

A safer sentence might say, "He is survived by his spouse, two children, and four grandchildren." If the family wants names included, use first names only or omit locations.

What you can include instead

A safe obituary can still be warm and useful. You can include:

• Full name or the name the person used publicly
• Age at death
• City and state, without a street address
• A short life summary
• Work, volunteer, faith, hobby, or community details that do not reveal private identifiers
• Cause of death only if the family wants to share it
• Donation instructions to a known charity, without publishing family financial details
• Service information shared in a controlled way

If you are asking how to write an obituary safely, the simplest rule is this: include the facts people need to recognize the person and respond with care, but leave out details used to verify identity, locate an empty home, or answer security questions.

A safer obituary example

Less safe:

"Robert James Harris, born March 14, 1949, died at his home at 122 Maple Street. He is survived by his wife, Linda Miller Harris, who still lives at the family home. Services will be held Saturday at 10 a.m."

Safer:

"Robert James Harris of Columbus, Ohio, died at age 76. He was a teacher, volunteer coach, and longtime member of his church community. He is survived by his spouse, children, and grandchildren. Service details are available through the funeral home."

The second version still tells the community who died and how to learn more. It does not publish the full birth date, home address, maiden name, or a clear window when the home may be empty.

What to do after the obituary is published

If the obituary is already online and includes sensitive information, act quickly. You may be able to reduce risk even if you cannot remove every copy from the internet.

Start with these steps:

1. Contact the funeral home, newspaper, or website and ask for edits. Remove the full birth date, street address, maiden name, and exact service time if needed.
2. Search the person's name online to see where the obituary appears. Some sites copy death notices from other sources.
3. Secure the home during services. Ask someone you trust to stay at the home or check on it.
4. Forward or stop mail for the person who died. Mail can contain account numbers, tax forms, and benefit notices. Sunset has a guide on stopping and forwarding a deceased person's mail.
5. Notify financial institutions and close or retitle accounts as part of the estate settlement.

You can also read Sunset's guide to deceased identity theft protection and use Sunset's credit bureau tool to help notify the credit bureaus that someone died.

Watch for scams aimed at a surviving spouse

After an obituary appears, scammers may contact the surviving spouse or family pretending to be a creditor, government agency, funeral provider, bank, or insurance company. Some may say a bill must be paid right away. Others may ask for a Social Security number, bank login, death certificate, or copy of a driver's license.

Pause before giving information. Ask for the caller's name, company, phone number, mailing address, and reason for calling. Then contact the company through a phone number from an official statement, card, or website. Do not use contact details provided in a surprise text or email.

If a creditor calls, you can ask for written proof of the debt and direct estate-related claims to the executor or personal representative. Rules for creditor claims vary by state, and this article is not legal advice. For background, Sunset explains how formal creditor notice works in publishing notice to creditors.

How this fits into estate settlement

An obituary is often one of the first public steps after a death, but it sits beside many private tasks: finding accounts, protecting mail, paying approved expenses, filing probate forms if needed, and transferring assets to heirs or beneficiaries.

Sunset helps families handle those next steps. Sunset searches over 2,500 financial institutions to find accounts and assets, generates state- and county-specific probate packets, offers an FDIC-insured estate account, and helps with transfers during the settlement of an estate. When legal counsel is needed, Sunset refers families to a local probate attorney.

Over 20,000 families have used Sunset to settle estates. If you are trying to protect the deceased person's identity while also finding accounts and closing out responsibilities, Sunset can help you get organized.

FAQ

Should you put a date of birth in an obituary?

It is safer not to publish the full date of birth. Use the person's age at death or birth year only. A full birth date can help someone answer identity checks or combine the obituary with other public records.

Is it safe to put a home address in an obituary?

No. Avoid publishing a street address. Use the city and state instead. If people need to send cards, use a funeral home, P.O. box, faith community office, or another mailing address that does not reveal where the surviving spouse lives.

Can burglars use funeral details from an obituary?

Yes, it can happen. A public service time can signal when family members may be away from the home. If that risk worries you, share the time privately, publish the obituary after the service, or have someone stay at the home during the funeral.

What information do identity thieves look for in obituaries?

They often look for full legal name, full birth date, maiden name, former names, addresses, family relationships, and clues about accounts or property. The risk rises when the obituary can be matched with mail, social media, or public records.

What should I do if the obituary already has too much information?

Ask the funeral home, newspaper, or website to edit it. Then secure mail, watch accounts, notify credit bureaus, and be cautious with calls or emails asking for payment or personal data.

A safer notice, then the next right step

You can write an obituary that honors the person who died without exposing private facts. Leave out the full birth date, maiden name, home address, exact service time if the home may be empty, and any identifiers tied to money, benefits, or accounts.

When you are ready to move from the obituary to the estate tasks, Sunset can help you find assets, prepare probate paperwork, open an estate account, and close accounts after a death. See how Sunset works.