- 46pages
- 30annotated obituaries (short, standard and long)
- 15death announcements for text, email, social media and work
- 16tables and worksheets
- 22checkboxes
How we check
Verified, page by page
- 108automatic checks run on the site before every update
- 3official .gov pages read and cited, on October 22 and 29, 2026
Reviewed by industry professionals.
- Primary sourcesThis guide is built from the guidance of the Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service.
- Every fact has its sourceEach guide lists the pages it relies on, with links, so you can check any point yourself.
- DatedSources read on October 22 and 29, 2026; each page shows when it was last updated.
What you will be able to do
- Gather every fact on one sheet before you write: names and spellings, dates, work, service, survivors, the photo, where it will be published.
- Write the obituary in the order readers expect, part by part, from the first sentence to the service details, with words for death, the cause of death if the family wants it named, dates and numbers.
- List the survivors without hurting anyone: the usual order, the punctuation, and wording options for stepchildren, former spouses, partners, half-siblings, estranged relatives and chosen family.
- Word the service and the memorial donations clearly, including a private service, a service at a later date, a livestream and military honors.
- Bring any text to the length you need with a word-count table, a word budget for each part and ten ways to cut, shown on one obituary written at three lengths.
- Send the first messages with 15 death announcements: texts, emails, social media posts, the workplace, a faith community and a correction.
- Check it before it is published, with a proof-check list, the questions for the newspaper or the funeral home, and what to leave out to protect against identity theft.
Who it is for, and who it is not for
For you if you are writing the obituary or the death notice yourself and want a method, real models and a check before it goes out.
Not for you if you only need a few samples to read: our free page of obituary examples has complete obituaries from traditional to modern. And if you would rather not write it yourself, the personalized obituary on TributePen is written from your answers.
What makes it different
Obituary samples are easy to find; a method for the family is not. Funeral homes publish obituaries, newspapers publish their rules, and the hard parts (who to list, how to name a stepchild or a former spouse, what to leave out, how to cut to the paper's limit) are left to the person holding the pen. This workbook puts them in one place, in the order you will need them, with an example for every case.
The complete table of contents
The real table of contents of the guide, with its page numbers.
- Before you writep. 5Three texts that are often confused · Who writes, who approves · How long you have · What it costs, and who pays · What to leave out, for safety
- The facts to gatherp. 7Where to find them · The fact sheet · Questions that bring the story
- The order of an obituaryp. 9The announcement sentence · Words for death · The cause of death · Dates and numbers
- Writing the life storyp. 11What to include · What to leave out · Tone · Turning a fact into a sentence · Military service, faith and work
- Survivors and those who died beforep. 13The usual order · The punctuation · Blended families, ex-spouses, partners and step-children · Building the list
- Service details and memorial donationsp. 15Service wording · Memorial donations · A thank-you line
- Trimming to a given lengthp. 17The word-count table · Where words go · Ten ways to cut · One life, three lengths
- Obituaries for a parentp. 21
- Obituaries for a spouse or partnerp. 25
- Obituaries for a grandparentp. 28
- Obituaries for a young adult, and other livesp. 31For a young adult · For a sibling, a friend, a veteran, a person with no close family
- Death announcementsp. 35Who to tell, and in what order · What an announcement says · By text message · By email · On social media · In the workplace · To a faith community · A correction
- Before you publishp. 41The proof-check · Questions for the newspaper or the funeral home · If a mistake is published
- Worksheets to printp. 43Who does what · Length plan · Where it was sent · The announcement list · The draft · Notes
- Sourcesp. 46
A look inside: real pages of the guide
In pictures
Illustrative photos, published by their authors under free licences.
The family workbook for an obituary: a fill-in fact sheet, the order of an obituary part by part, how to list survivors and those who died before in blended families, service and memorial donation wording, a word-count table to trim to any length, 30 annotated obituaries and 15 death announcements for text, email, social media and work.
Pay $29 and receive my PDF workbookBy paying, you accept the Terms.One-time payment by Stripe · Apple Pay · Google Pay · PDF to download right away, link also emailed
Full refund within 14 days, no reason needed · refund policy
Secure payment by Stripe · Apple Pay · Google Pay · no account, no subscription · Questions? Email us
- Secure payment on StripeCard or Apple Pay on Stripe's secure page. Your card number never reaches our servers.
- One price, taxes includedA one-time payment. No account to create, no subscription.
- Yours right after paymentDownload the PDF at once; the link is also emailed to you, and Find my purchases sends it again.
- Full refund within 14 daysWrite to us within 14 days of your purchase and we refund you in full, no reason needed (see the refund policy).
Common questions
Are the 30 obituaries and 15 announcements real?
They were written for the workbook, about invented people, and each one is followed by a note on why it works and how to adapt it. They cover a parent, a spouse or partner, a grandparent, a young adult, a sibling, a friend, a veteran and a person with no close family, at short, standard and long lengths.
Does it tell me what the newspaper will charge?
No. Newspaper prices vary by paper, length, photo and day, and the workbook gives none. It gives you the questions to ask so the price is in writing before you submit, and explains what the FTC says about obituary notices placed by a funeral home.
Is there a fill-in-the-blank template?
Not a form with blanks in the sentences. The workbook gives you a fact sheet that gathers every name, date and service detail on one page, and the order of an obituary laid out part by part with a word budget for 100, 150, 300 and 600 words, so you write each part yourself. For a template with blanks, use the free obituary template on this site, which assembles the usual sentences in your browser and downloads them for Word.
Does it help with blended families and difficult cases?
A full chapter covers the survivors list: stepchildren, former spouses, partners, a spouse who died earlier, half-siblings, a child who died before them, estranged relatives and people with no close family, with wording options and what to check with the family first.
Sources cited in the guide
- Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice, "Funeral Costs and Pricing Checklist", read on October 29, 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission, "Complying with the Funeral Rule" (business guidance), read on October 22, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, "Identity theft guide for individuals" (last reviewed or updated June 4, 2026), read on October 29, 2026.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 988lifeline.org, read on October 22, 2026.