Nz Herald Obituary Notices (2024)

FAQs

How do you find out if someone has died in NZ? ›

Welcome to the Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records website. You can search and order New Zealand Government records for births, deaths and marriages (BDM) here. The historic data available for you to search is limited so that information relating to people who might still be alive, can be protected.

Most of the time, if an obituary is available online, you will be able to find it with a Google search. However, if you still fail to see the results you want, consider looking through the websites of local funeral homes or newspapers.

The Web site hosts obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths. Legacy.com hosts obituaries for more than three-quarters of the 100 largest newspapers in the U.S., by circulation.

In New Zealand, obituaries are typically published in local newspapers, online publications and funeral home websites and in most cases you will be able to book directly with them via their website. Newspapers will usually ask for proof of the death of the person before they will publish an obituary notice.

New Zealand birth, death, marriage, civil union and name change certificates are public records. In most cases, they can be ordered by anyone.

As funeral homes across America post obituaries to their respective funeral home website, The Obituary App organizes them all into particular cities. Now, a user can look at all the obituaries posted by multiple funeral homes in one place.

Public Records Search (PRS)

Access PRS by entering the first and last name of the deceased person along with their approximate birth and death years. While registration is required, it's a free service, and additional details may be available through a subscription.

In most cases, you're likely to hear the news directly from close family or friends of the deceased. If not, you may find out through an announcement in the local paper. There are also online platforms that publish details of recent deaths.

North Dakota newspaper The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead ran what is certainly one of the shortest obituaries ever published. Accompanying a photograph and name of local resident Douglas Legler, the obit, which ran Wednesday, had just two simple words: “Doug died.”

Is it common to read the obituary at a funeral? ›

An obituary is written to tell the story of your loved one. These will often be in the funeral program. There will even be a part of the funeral where the obituary will be silently read by everyone in attendance at the funeral. It is something you and your family should be patient with when you are writing it.

To be clear, obituaries are protected by copyright. They are creative works of expression that are fixed into a tangible medium of expression. Both the text and the images that make up an obituary are protected by copyright (even if the facts and information are not).

For earlier deaths check Papers Past and our online catalogue for newspaper holdings; and for more recent deaths (since December 2006) check AMemoryTree.co.nz as it lists the dates when death notices appeared in newspapers (over 98% of those published). Another website worth looking at is Tributes Online.

If there is no spouse/partner, children or parents, the deceased's brothers and sisters take everything in equal shares. If none of the above applies, your estate goes to the New Zealand Government. Dying without a Will is complex, expensive and time consuming than if there is a Will.

When someone dies at home you'll need to: call 111 and ask for an ambulance and police if the death was unexpected, or. call their doctor if the death was expected - this can wait until morning if the person died overnight.

Who can verify that a person is dead? "Medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, enrolled nurses, midwives, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and intensive care paramedics are authorised by the Chief Coroner to verify death."

Funeral home records vary in format and content, but they can all be valuable for determining someone's death date. Check genealogical and historical societies; state, county, and local libraries; and municipal archives for possible holdings.

You can search and view records and order historical certificates online.

Order in person

You can order certificates in person in Auckland, Manukau, Wellington or Christchurch. You'll need photo ID. To save time, book an appointment online before you visit a BDM office.