How Much Does an Obituary or Death Notice Cost?

Detailed Explanation

The cost of an obituary catches many families off guard. It usually arrives as a separate charge, on top of the funeral director's quote, at a time when nobody is checking prices closely. The main thing to understand is how newspapers price the space. Once you know that, the total is easy to predict and easy to keep down.

Paid notices and news obituaries are different things

Two very different pieces of writing both get called an "obituary":

• Paid death notices and family-written obituaries. The family (or the funeral director for them) buys space in the paper, much like a classified advertisement. Almost everything on the "family notices" or "announcements" page falls into this group.
• News obituaries. A journalist writes about the life of a notable person because the paper judges it newsworthy. These are editorial and aren't paid for by the family. Most people won't get one, and a family can't buy one.

The rest of this page is about the first kind. Obituary vs death notice vs eulogy explains how the short notice and the longer obituary differ in purpose.

How newspapers usually price notices

Most papers, in most countries, charge by the amount of space the notice uses. Depending on the publication, that can be:

• per line or per word, with a minimum charge for a short notice
• per column centimetre or column inch, for a notice laid out as a block
• a set package, such as a notice of up to a certain length, sometimes bundled with an online listing on the paper's website

On top of the base charge, extras commonly include:

• a photo, often charged as a flat fee or as extra space
• a border, symbol or larger typeface
• more than one day in print, or a weekend edition
• running the notice in more than one paper, for example where the person lived and where they grew up

As a rough guide only, a short notice in a local paper tends to cost relatively little, while a long obituary with a photo in a large metropolitan paper can run to hundreds, and sometimes more than a thousand, in the local currency. Rates differ widely between countries, regions and titles, and they change. The only reliable figure is a quote from the specific paper for your specific wording.

Online options usually cost far less

Space online isn't rationed the way print space is, so online options rarely charge by the word:

• Funeral home websites. Many funeral directors publish a notice or obituary on their own site as part of their service.
• Newspaper websites and notice sites. Many papers now pair a print notice with an online listing, sometimes free and sometimes as a paid add-on. Online guestbooks attached to these listings may expire or carry a fee to keep.
• Online memorials. An online memorial is a longer-lasting page where the full obituary can sit alongside photos, stories and messages from people who knew them.

A common approach is to pay for a short print notice with the essentials (name, dates, family, service details) and put the full life story online, where length costs nothing. How to write an obituary and how to write a funeral notice cover what belongs in each.

Who pays, and how it is billed

The family arranging the funeral normally pays, and the cost is generally treated as one of the funeral expenses met from the estate. When a funeral director places the notice, the newspaper's charge is often passed on as a separate item on the funeral account. Asking whether the notice is included in the quote, or added on, avoids surprises. For how notices sit within the whole bill, see how much does a funeral cost.

How it differs between countries

The pricing model above is broadly the same across the English-speaking world, but the details differ:

• Australia. Funeral notices in local and metropolitan papers remain common, often placed by the funeral director and billed on the funeral account. Moneysmart (2026) notes that funerals can cost from $8,000 to around $20,000 overall, and the notice is one of the smaller items within that.
• United Kingdom. Paid "announcements" in local and national papers work much the same way. Separately, executors in England and Wales can place a deceased estates notice in The Gazette under section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925, giving unknown creditors at least two months to come forward before the estate is shared out. As of 2026 The Gazette lists a base fee of £96.55 plus VAT per notice. This is a legal step in estate administration, not an obituary, and it doesn't replace a notice to friends and family.
• United States. Family-written obituaries in US newspapers are usually paid notices, priced by length, often with an online listing included. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a newspaper notice that a funeral home buys for the family counts as a "cash advance" item, and if the funeral home adds a service charge or keeps a discount, it must disclose that the price differs from its own cost.

How it works where you are

• In Australia: How much it costs to publish an obituary or funeral notice in Australia

Things to Consider

• Get the price before you finalise the wording. Most papers will quote a total once they know the word count, the photo and the dates.
• Decide what the print notice is for. Its job is usually to tell the local community about the death and the service. A short notice does that well; the longer tribute can live online.
• Think about the right paper. A local paper where the person actually lived may reach more of the people who knew them than a larger, more expensive title.
• Anniversary notices are a repeat cost. Families who place an in memoriam notice each year pay each time. See how to write an in memoriam notice.
• Check the proof carefully. Corrections after publication can mean paying again. Can you correct an obituary after it's published? covers what happens if something is wrong.

Common Mistakes

• Putting the full life story into a paid print notice. This is the usual reason a notice costs far more than expected.
• Assuming the funeral director's quote includes the notice. Many list it separately, and newspaper charges can change between the quote and publication.
• Forgetting the extras. Photos, borders and extra days in print are each priced on top of the words.
• Confusing a legal estate notice with an obituary. A creditor notice published by an executor serves a legal purpose and doesn't tell friends about the funeral. It doesn't replace a death notice, and a death notice doesn't replace it.
• Treating print as the only respectful option. An online notice or memorial is often what people actually see and share, and it costs far less.