Writing Obituaries: A Guide for UK Journalists

The Structure of a Strong Obituary

While there is no single formula, most effective obituaries in the UK press follow a broadly consistent structure. Understanding this framework gives you a solid foundation to work from, whether you are writing about a local community figure for a regional paper or a nationally prominent individual for a broadsheet.

• The opening: Lead with what made this person significant. Avoid the formulaic “X has died aged Y” if you can. The best obituary openings capture the essence of a person in a single, vivid image or anecdote. Think about what a reader who knew nothing about this person would need to understand immediately.
• The life chronology: After the opening, move through the person's life roughly chronologically — early years, education, career, major achievements, personal life. This does not need to be exhaustive. Select the details that are most revealing and most relevant.
• The achievements and impact: What did this person contribute? How did they change their field, their community, or the people around them? Use specific examples rather than vague praise.
• Personal character: The best obituaries go beyond a CV. Include telling anecdotes, characteristic habits, memorable quotes, and observations from people who knew them well.
• Survivors and legacy: Conclude with surviving family members (following their wishes about what to include) and a brief reflection on the person's lasting impact.

Setting the Right Tone

Tone is everything in obituary writing. The challenge is to be respectful without being sycophantic, honest without being cruel, and warm without being saccharine. UK readers tend to appreciate obituaries that are measured, witty where appropriate, and grounded in fact.

Some principles to guide your tone:

• Write about a real person, not a saint. The most memorable obituaries acknowledge complexity. A person can be brilliant and difficult, generous and flawed. Readers sense when an obituary is whitewashing a life, and it diminishes the piece.
• Use the person's own words. Direct quotes from the subject (drawn from interviews, speeches, or writings) bring an obituary to life in a way that third-person description cannot match.
• Avoid euphemism and cliche. Phrases like “passed away peacefully” or “lost their battle with cancer” have become so overused that they communicate very little. Be direct and clear.
• Match the tone to the person. An obituary of a comedian should not read like an obituary of a High Court judge, and vice versa. Let the subject's personality inform your writing style.

Research Workflow: Archives and Public Records

Before you write a line, you need a solid factual base. The following UK sources are particularly valuable for obituary research:

• Hansard: For MPs, peers, or anyone who gave evidence to parliamentary committees, Hansard (parliament.uk) is a verbatim record of what they said in their own words — invaluable for quotes and for establishing positions they held publicly.
• Court archives: Judgments in civil and criminal cases are public documents. The National Archives holds historical case records; the Judiciary website (judiciary.gov.uk) publishes recent judgments. Court records can confirm facts a family may not volunteer.
• Professional body records: The General Medical Council, Bar Council, Solicitors Regulation Authority, NUJ, and similar bodies maintain public registers of members, qualifications, and disciplinary findings. These are a reliable check on claimed professional credentials.
• Companies House: For any subject who ran businesses or held directorships, Companies House (companies.gov.uk) confirms the companies involved, their trading periods, and financial position — useful for checking commercial claims.
• The British Library Newspaper Archive: The British Library's digital archive and its physical collection at Colindale are among the best resources for tracing a subject's public life across decades of coverage.
• University and school archives: Most major universities and many independent schools maintain alumni records and archives that can verify educational claims. Contact the relevant institution's archivist directly.

Verification Challenges in Obituary Writing

Obituaries present unique verification challenges. The subject cannot confirm or deny facts, family members may have incomplete or inaccurate knowledge, and published sources may contain errors that have been repeated uncritically over the years.

• Cross-reference key facts. Dates of birth, educational institutions, career positions, and major life events should be verified through multiple independent sources wherever possible. Public records, company filings, university archives, and professional body membership records are all useful.
• Be cautious with family accounts. Relatives are invaluable sources for personal detail and colour, but their recollections may be shaped by grief, family mythology, or gaps in knowledge. Treat family accounts as one source among several, not as gospel.
• Check previous coverage. Search your publication's archive and other media databases for previous coverage of the subject. This can confirm facts, identify inconsistencies, and suggest angles you might otherwise miss.
• Verify the cause of death. Only include the cause of death if the family has confirmed it or if it is a matter of public record (for example, a coroner's inquest). In cases of suicide, follow the Samaritans media guidelines and your publication's own policy on reporting suicide.

IPSO Clause 4: Intrusion into Grief

Clause 4 of the IPSO Editors' Code of Practice (Intrusion into Grief or Shock) is the primary regulatory framework for how journalists approach bereaved families. It states that publishers must handle inquiries “with sympathy and discretion” and that publication should not take place if the relevant person has asked for privacy and there is no overriding public interest.

In practice, Clause 4 means:

• Do not doorstep a recently bereaved family at their home without good reason and advance notice wherever possible.
• A family's request for privacy must be given significant weight. Even if the deceased was a public figure, immediate family members are entitled to protection from unwanted intrusion.
• Approaches by phone or in person should be made once only unless the family responds. Repeated approaches in the immediate aftermath of a death can constitute harassment under the Code.
• If a family liaison officer, solicitor, or publicist is acting for the family, direct all contact through that route.

Engaging with the Family

How you approach a grieving family is one of the most sensitive aspects of obituary writing. The IPSO Editors' Code (Clause 5, Reporting Suicide, and Clause 4, Intrusion into Grief or Shock) and the NUJ Code of Conduct both provide guidance on this.

• Approach with empathy. Contact the family through appropriate channels — a publicist, a mutual contact, or a carefully worded written approach. Never doorstep a recently bereaved family unless there is an overwhelming public interest justification.
• Be clear about your purpose. Explain who you are, which publication you represent, and that you want to write a piece that honours the person's life. Make it clear that their participation is voluntary.
• Respect their wishes. If the family asks you not to include certain details (for example, a second marriage or an estranged child), weigh their request against the journalistic value of the information. In most cases, respecting the family's wishes is both ethically right and practically wise — they are often the richest source of material for your piece.
• Share but don't cede editorial control. Some journalists offer to share the completed obituary with the family before publication as a factual accuracy check. This is a judgment call. If you do, make it clear that you are seeking factual corrections, not approval of your editorial choices.

Cause of Death: Suicide and Samaritans Guidelines

Reporting the cause of death requires particular care when suicide is involved. The Samaritans Media Guidelines for Reporting Suicide are the authoritative reference for UK journalists. Key principles include:

• Do not describe the method in detail. Research consistently shows that detailed method reporting increases imitation risk, particularly among vulnerable readers.
• Avoid sensationalising or presenting suicide as a solution to problems. Framing language matters: “died by suicide” is preferred over “committed suicide” (which implies criminality) or “successful suicide”.
• Do not speculate about cause unless a coroner has returned a conclusion of suicide. An inquest may still be pending; an open conclusion does not confirm suicide.
• Include signposting. Most UK publications include a standard line directing readers to the Samaritans (116 123) or other crisis support services. This is both best practice and a requirement of many editorial policies.
• Consider the family. Publishing details of method or circumstances without family consent can cause significant additional harm to bereaved relatives who may be contacted by members of the public as a result.

Cruse Bereavement Care also publishes guidance on sensitive reporting of bereavement that is relevant to obituary writers. The NUJ welfare team can provide support to journalists who find this type of reporting emotionally difficult.

Balancing Honesty with Sensitivity

One of the most difficult questions in obituary writing is how to handle uncomfortable truths. Should you mention a criminal conviction? A scandal? A period of addiction? A widely known but privately held secret?

There is no single answer, but the following framework can help:

1. Is it a matter of public record? Facts that are already in the public domain — criminal convictions, public controversies, widely reported incidents — are generally fair to include. Omitting them would make the obituary dishonest by omission.
2. Is it essential to understanding the person? If a controversy or personal struggle was central to the person's public life or career, it would be misleading to ignore it. An obituary of a politician forced to resign over a scandal cannot credibly omit the scandal.
3. What is the impact on the living? Consider the effect on surviving family members, particularly children. The UK GDPR protects the data of living individuals, not the deceased, so the privacy rights of surviving relatives are a genuine consideration.
4. Is it proportionate? A single youthful indiscretion should not define a decades-long career. Give uncomfortable facts the weight they deserve — no more, no less.

Writing About Living People Named in an Obituary

An obituary rarely concerns only the deceased. Surviving spouses, business partners, collaborators, rivals, and estranged family members may all be named. Each living person mentioned carries full legal and ethical protections that do not die with the subject:

• Defamation: A claim that a surviving business partner acted dishonestly, that a former colleague behaved improperly, or that a surviving family member was the cause of a rift must meet the full standards of the Defamation Act 2013. Truth, honest opinion, or publication on a matter of public interest are the available defences — but they must be properly made out.
• Privacy: UK GDPR protects the personal data of living individuals. Publishing private details about a surviving family member that were never made public — a medical condition, a criminal conviction not in the public record, a relationship — without consent and without a public interest justification is a potential breach of privacy law and the IPSO Code.
• Right of reply: Where you make any negative reference to a named living person, offer them an opportunity to respond before publication. This is both an ethical requirement under the NUJ Code and, if adhered to, a partial defence against any subsequent complaint.
• Children: Surviving children of the deceased have particularly strong protections. Do not name minor children without parental consent; do not publish information about children's circumstances, education, or whereabouts.

Defamation in Retrospective Pieces

Under English law, you cannot defame a dead person. The Defamation Act 2013 only protects living individuals, and a deceased person's estate cannot bring a libel claim. However, obituary writers must be aware of two important caveats:

• Living people mentioned in the obituary can be defamed. If your obituary includes allegations about a surviving business partner, colleague, or family member, those individuals can sue. Every claim about a living person must meet the same defamation law standards as any other piece of journalism.
• The Malicious Communications Act 1988 and the Communications Act 2003 may apply if an obituary is considered grossly offensive. While this is extremely rare in professional journalism, it is worth being aware of the theoretical risk, particularly with online publication and social media sharing.

Advance Obituaries and Archive Conventions at UK Nationals

Most UK broadsheets — The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent — maintain libraries of advance obituaries for prominent individuals, fact-checked and updated while the subject is still alive. This practice raises some specific ethical and editorial considerations:

• Reuse and update policy: Advance obituaries must be reviewed and updated before publication. Facts that were accurate when first drafted — an organisation's current role, a relationship's status, a legal matter's outcome — may have changed. A good editorial policy mandates a date-stamped review at least annually for any subject in poor health.
• Archive obituaries online: When historical obituaries are re-published or indexed online, they may surface in search results in misleading ways — particularly if the person was incorrectly reported as dead and later corrected. Ensure archive pieces are clearly labelled with original publication dates.
• Reuse of archive obituary copy: Some regional papers have faced criticism for reproducing agency obituary copy without local verification. Where you are working from syndicated or agency material, verify locally before publication.
• Exclusive embargo practice: When a prominent individual dies unexpectedly, some families or estates approach a single publication to “authorise” an obituary. Be transparent with readers about whether an obituary has been written with family co-operation — it is not a betrayal of the subject, but it should be disclosed.

Digital Memorials and the Online Afterlife

The way people are remembered has changed fundamentally in the digital age, and obituary writers need to account for this. The deceased person's social media profiles, websites, and digital footprint are both a rich source of material and a subject in their own right.

• Social media as a source: The deceased person's public social media posts can provide quotes, photographs, and insights into their personality. However, apply the same verification standards as you would to any social media content. Posts may be ironic, context-dependent, or not representative of the person's views.
• Online tributes: Tribute pages, GoFundMe campaigns, and social media memorial posts can provide useful quotes and colour, but treat them as unverified sources. People posting tributes may exaggerate, misremember, or have their own agendas.
• The digital legacy: For people who were prominent online — content creators, bloggers, social media personalities — their digital output may be their most significant legacy. Treat it with the same seriousness as you would a writer's published books or an artist's body of work.
• Right to be forgotten: While the right to be forgotten does not apply to deceased individuals under current UK law, be sensitive about resurfacing content the person may have deleted during their lifetime. Context matters.

Practical Tips for Obituary Writers

Whether obituary writing is your specialism or an occasional assignment, these practical tips will help you produce better work under the time pressure that often accompanies a death:

1. Start early. If you know a prominent local figure is seriously ill, begin researching their life now. You cannot publish until after death, but having a draft ready means you can produce a thorough piece quickly when needed.
2. Talk to multiple sources. The family will give you one perspective. Colleagues, rivals, friends, and critics will give you others. The richest obituaries draw on a range of voices.
3. Read the subject's own work. If the person wrote books, articles, speeches, or maintained a blog, read as much as you can. Their own words are almost always more revealing than anything you can write about them.
4. Keep it specific. Vague praise (“she was a wonderful person”) tells the reader nothing. Specific detail (“she kept a jar of boiled sweets on her desk for nervous junior reporters”) tells them everything.
5. Consider freelancing obituaries. Many publications commission freelance journalists to write obituaries, particularly for specialist subjects. If you have expertise in a particular field — music, sport, science, the law — you may be well placed to pitch obituary commissions to national and regional publications.

Obituary writing is a craft that rewards practice, empathy, and meticulous research. At its best, it is journalism at its most human — a form of storytelling that records a life honestly and ensures that the people who shaped our world are remembered with the seriousness and care they deserve.

Practical Checklist

Run through these before filing any obituary:

• Verify date of birth and full name against at least two independent primary sources (e.g. Companies House filing, Hansard entry, university alumni record)
• Check all stated career positions and dates against employer records, professional body registers, or contemporaneous press coverage
• Search Hansard if the subject ever gave evidence to a parliamentary committee or held elected office
• Search court archives and the Judiciary website for any judgments in which the subject was a party or witness
• Confirm cause of death with the family or via a coroner's inquest record before including it — do not rely on social media posts
• If suicide is involved, apply the Samaritans Media Guidelines and include crisis signposting per your publication's policy
• Review IPSO Clause 4 before approaching the family; document how and when contact was made
• Offer a right of reply to any living person named in a negative context
• Confirm that all claims about living individuals would withstand Defamation Act 2013 scrutiny before publication
• Check whether your publication holds an advance obituary; if so, review it for factual currency before updating and filing
• Archive and date-stamp the final published version clearly if it will appear online, to avoid future confusion if it resurfaces in search

Common Mistakes

• Treating the family's account as fact: Relatives are valuable sources but they may remember incorrectly, omit uncomfortable details, or have genuine gaps in knowledge. Cross-reference everything independently.
• Repeating errors from previous press coverage: Published profiles and previous obituaries often propagate factual mistakes. A wrong year, a wrong university, a wrong job title — check the original source, not a secondary account of it.
• Ignoring the coroner's process: If an inquest has been opened but not concluded, do not report a cause of death as established. An open or adjourned inquest means nothing is confirmed. A narrative verdict or conclusion of suicide is not the same as a criminal finding.
• Publishing method detail in suicide cases: This is both an ethical failure and, increasingly, a reputational risk for publishers. The Samaritans and NUJ have both been clear on this point for years.
• Making defamatory claims about living associates: The most common legal pitfall in obituaries. Always ask: is this claim about a living person? Is it potentially damaging to their reputation? Can it be defended?
• Writing hagiography: A piece that presents a complex human life as entirely praiseworthy is neither honest journalism nor, ultimately, a fitting memorial. Editors at UK nationals regularly reject obituaries they consider “too PR”.
• Not updating advance obits before publication: Advance obituaries go stale. Key facts — relationships, roles, legal proceedings — change. A thorough pre-publication review is not optional.

Red Flags

• A family spokesperson who is unwilling to confirm basic biographical facts (dates, positions held) — this sometimes signals disputes within the family or attempts to control the narrative
• Claims about career or educational credentials that cannot be independently verified from the institution or professional body
• A subject whose Wikipedia page contains extensive unsourced claims — Wikipedia obituaries are sometimes vandalism targets or PR-managed pages and should never be used as a primary source
• Requests from the family or an estate to pre-approve editorial content (as opposed to factual corrections) before publication
• Social media tribute posts that describe method or circumstances of death in ways that would breach Samaritans guidelines — do not reproduce this detail even as a quote
• Surviving individuals named in the obituary who have not been given an opportunity to respond to negative references
• An inquest that is still open or pending when you are filing — flag this clearly in copy and do not report a cause of death as established

Primary Sources

• IPSO Editors' Code of Practice — Full text including Clause 4 (Intrusion into Grief) and Clause 5 (Reporting Suicide)
• Samaritans Media Guidelines for Reporting Suicide — The authoritative UK standard for cause-of-death reporting
• Cruse Bereavement Care — Resources on sensitive bereavement reporting and journalist wellbeing
• NUJ Code of Conduct — Ethical obligations including source protection and sensitivity to grief
• Defamation Act 2013 — England and Wales defamation law including the serious harm threshold
• Hansard — Verbatim parliamentary record for verifying statements by public figures
• Judiciary: Judgments — Searchable database of court judgments in England and Wales
• Companies House — Directorship and company records for verification
• NUJ Welfare: Journalist Wellbeing — Support for journalists covering difficult deaths