How Do You Write an In Memoriam Notice for a Death Anniversary?

Detailed Explanation

An in memoriam notice is a short, paid notice a family publishes on or near the anniversary of someone's death, separate from the funeral notice published around the death itself. See the Obituaries & Funeral Notices hub for how it fits alongside the funeral notice, the obituary, and the eulogy. Where a funeral notice announces a death and an obituary tells a life story, an in memoriam notice does neither: its only job is to say, publicly, that someone is still remembered.

The practice is most familiar in Australia, the UK, New Zealand, and other Commonwealth countries, where newspapers still run a dedicated "In Memoriam" classified section alongside births, deaths, and marriages. It's less common as a distinct newspaper category in the United States, where families more often mark an anniversary through a social media post, a card to close family, or an addition to an online memorial instead. The wording principles below apply wherever you're publishing; just check whether your local paper, or its website, still carries an in memoriam section before assuming print is an option.

This page covers writing and publishing the notice itself. If you're looking for help getting through the day emotionally rather than wording an announcement, see how do you get through the first anniversary of a death.

What to include

A typical in memoriam notice covers, in roughly this order:

1. The person's name, usually surname first to match how newspapers alphabetise notices ("SMITH, John").
2. How long it's been, stated plainly ("1st anniversary", "10 years today", "remembered always, 5 years on").
3. A short line of verse, a quote, or a personal reflection. This is usually the heart of the notice; see examples below.
4. Who placed the notice, and their relationship to the person ("Sadly missed by his wife Margaret and family", "Forever in our hearts, Sarah and Michael").

That's it. There's no service to describe and no life story to fit in, so most in memoriam notices stay under 50 words.

Wording that works

Keep it warm and personal rather than formal. This is closer to a private message made public than to a formal announcement. A few original examples, at different lengths:

SMITH, John. 1st anniversary. A year has passed, and there still isn't a morning that starts without thinking of you first. Forever loved, forever missed. Margaret, Sarah, and Michael.

JONES, Margaret. In loving memory, 10 years today. Ten years on, and the stories still start with your name. Always in our hearts, your loving family.

CHEN, Wei. Remembered always. Five years, and still not a day passes without you. Love, Anna.

Write your own line if the family has a phrase, saying, or private joke associated with the person. A genuine sentence in the family's own words usually lands better than a borrowed verse. If you'd rather use a verse and can't think of one, a librarian or your funeral director can often point you to public-domain memorial verses; avoid copying wording straight from another family's published notice, which raises both a copyright question and, more simply, uses someone else's words for someone else's grief.

How often to publish it

There's no rule. Some families publish an in memoriam notice every year, sometimes for decades, and it becomes a small annual ritual. Others publish once, on a milestone year like the first, the tenth, or the twenty-fifth anniversary, and never again. A few skip most years and place one only when something prompts it. All of these are normal. Decide what feels sustainable rather than what feels obligatory: a notice you feel pressured to place every year can start to feel like a chore rather than a tribute.

Where in memoriam notices are published

The same outlets that carry funeral notices: usually a local or state newspaper's classified section, sometimes also a funeral home's website or a dedicated online notice page. Newspapers generally price them the same way as funeral notices, by the line or word, so a brief notice costs little and a longer one with a full verse costs more. See how much does it cost to publish an obituary or funeral notice for typical figures across notice types. Because an in memoriam notice may run year after year, many families deliberately keep the wording short to keep that repeating cost down, then keep the fuller story somewhere that doesn't carry a per-year cost at all, such as an online memorial that stays visible for anyone to visit, any day of the year, not only on the anniversary.

Things to Consider

• This is different from the emotional experience of the anniversary itself. Writing and placing the notice is a practical task you can finish in ten minutes; getting through the day is a different matter entirely. See how do you get through the first anniversary of a death for that side of it.
• Agree on wording as a family if more than one person wants to be named. A joint notice from the whole family reads differently to several separate notices from different relatives, and it's worth a quick conversation rather than a surprise in print.
• Set a reminder if you plan to make it an annual notice. The date sneaks up, and most publications have a submission deadline a day or two before it runs.
• There's no obligation to place one at all. Plenty of families mark the anniversary privately, with a visit, a call, or a quiet moment, and never publish anything.

Common Mistakes

• Writing it like a funeral notice or obituary. An in memoriam notice doesn't need service details, biography, or family history; those belong to the funeral notice and obituary, not here.
• Copying a verse from someone else's published notice. It's easy to find one that resonates while reading the paper's memoriam section, but reusing another family's exact wording raises a courtesy issue and, in most cases, a copyright one too. Adapt the sentiment in your own words instead.
• Assuming the deadline works the same as for a funeral notice. In memoriam notices are usually planned weeks in advance, not the day after a death, so check the publication's cut-off separately each time.
• Feeling locked into publishing every year. A gap year, or stopping altogether, doesn't diminish how much the person is missed. Placing a notice once creates no ongoing commitment.