The Washington Post has two ways of announcing a death: death notices and news obituaries.
A paid death notice is a classified advertisement prepared by the family or funeral home. In most cases, families may include any information they wish in a death notice. It is important to note that a death notice is the only place in The Washington Post where information about funeral services, memorials, donations and surviving family members, as well as personal remembrances, may be published. You may also request that a death notice run on a particular day or days. Costs vary according to length and whether a photograph is desired. Death notices can be placed through our self-service portal.
A news obituary is a biographical news article written by a reporter and published free of charge. The Washington Post welcomes suggestions for news obituaries. To request a news obituary, please complete this form, or email us at newsobits@washpost.com. We are not able to guarantee publication, but we review all requests and will contact you if we are able to assign a reporter to the story.