Where can I go on the internet to find free public records for obituaries? Every time I search, I hit a brick?
wall with a darn ad selling peoplesearch crap. I know there has to be some way to access public death records by city, county, name, birthday, or SOMEWAY without having to pay someone. PLEEEEASE HEEELP!!!!!
I can help, but what is needed, is a reality check.
First.. an obituary is NOT a public record, nor is it free. It is a paid announcement in a newspaper. Many persons don’t have obits (their families choose not to place one). Many newspapers choose to not be online.
A death certificate is defined as a public record.. which does NOT mean that there are no restrictions on those. Many states LIMIT access to the death certificates to immediate family, or do not allow them to be accessed for 50-75 yrs. Death certificates are controlled by the state vital records offices. When thinking in terms of county based records.. nothing anywhere is an obligation that they be online.
If you go to www.rootsweb.com, you WILL find that they offer (free) the social security death index. What it is, is VERY specific.. it is an index ONLY, and it only covers deaths in the US since about 1960ish. Earlier records do exist for ssi.. they simply are not computerized.
If you are researching family history, this is important to remember. The internet is a massive collection of information. It does NOT have everything you might want. Ancestry.com does have many records that you will not find elsewhere, for the simple reason that they are in business to sell service. Meaning access to certain records that are not otherwise available. You might find them free by going in person (which may mean across the country), so the service is completely legitimate.
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