Free tool
Write your own obituary
before someone else has to.
Somebody is going to write it. You know the details they'd have to guess at. Answer what you want to answer, and the tool writes it the way a newspaper runs an obituary, as you type. It says died. Free, no account needed, and when it's done you can turn it into a card for TikTok or Instagram.
Preview
0 wordsEnter your name and the obituary starts building here.
With a free account you can save it to your plan, with your other funeral wishes.
Make the share card
Your name, as much of your obituary as fits, and where friends can write theirs. It leaves out the people you named. It's drawn in your browser and isn't sent to MORTL.
Your draft saves in this browser, or to your account if you're signed in, so a closed tab doesn't lose it.
Read it out loud
Write yours. Film yourself reading it. Tag @mortl_inc.
Write the obituary you'd want read at your own funeral, then read it to the camera and post it. Tag @mortl_inc on TikTok or Instagram. If you'd rather post a photo, the share card has your obituary and the address where friends can write theirs, mortl.com/obit.
Funny is fine. Keep it true. And leave out your birth date, your street address, and your birthplace, because people you've never met will read it.
Why write it yourself, three examples, and what to leave out
Why write it yourself
When someone dies, the obituary usually falls to the family, often in the same days they're planning the funeral. They have to guess at things you could have told them in a minute: the years at the job, the town you live in, which people you'd want named. Writing it now takes that job off them and gets the facts right. You also know details nobody else has, like the lunch you ate every day for 14 years.
Some people write a straight one for the newspaper and a funny one for the people who knew them. Keep both, and tell your family which is which.
Three examples, written by this tool
Plain
Denise Okafor, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, died.
Denise was a pharmacist for 38 years.
Denise could name the side effects of anything in your medicine cabinet, and she did, whether you asked or not. Denise loved Sunday crosswords in pen, Nollywood movies, and the 6 a.m. walk. Denise was proud of paying off the house in 1994.
Denise wanted to be remembered as the one who always knew what the pill was for.
Denise is survived by sons Chidi and Emeka, sister Ada, and five grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to the Tulsa Area United Way.
Warm
Rosa María "Rosie" Delgado died. Rosie lived in San Antonio, Texas.
Rosie drove a city bus for 29 years and knew every regular by name.
Ask anyone who knew Rosie and the same things come up. Rosie kept a bag of butterscotch candy by the fare box the whole time. Rosie loved the Spurs, her tomato plants, and loud family dinners. Rosie was proud of her three kids.
Rosie wanted to be remembered as the driver who waited when you were running.
Rosie is survived by husband Tomás, children Ana, Luis, and Marisol, and more cousins than anyone could count.
Memorial donations may be made to the San Antonio Food Bank.
Unconventional
Arjun ate the same lunch every workday for 14 years: a turkey sandwich, an apple, and one square of dark chocolate. That was Arjun. Arjun Mehta died, in Columbus, Ohio.
Arjun wrote software for an insurance company for 22 years.
Arjun loved bad horror movies, the Columbus Crew, and the treehouse in the backyard. Arjun was proud of building that treehouse with his daughter.
Arjun wanted to be remembered for returning his library books, eventually.
Arjun is survived by wife Priya and daughter Meera.
Memorial donations may be made to the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
What to leave out
Anyone can read a public obituary, including people collecting the answers to security questions. Experian lists what obituaries commonly give away: middle names, maiden names, place of birth, the town you live in, relatives' last names, education, work history, clubs, and military service. It warns that "information like a mother's maiden name is often used as a security question for online accounts." Experian, February 2, 2022.
That's why this tool never asks for your birth date, your birthplace, or your address, and why the share card leaves out the people you name. If you post your obituary while you're alive, the same details still answer security questions on your own accounts, so leave out your maiden name and your relatives' full names too. Keep a complete version for your family, and post a shorter one.
Where to keep it
Somewhere the person who handles things after you die will find it: with your will, with your end-of-life plans, or in an email to them with "my obituary" in the subject line. Signed in, Save to my plan puts it with your funeral wishes, where anyone you share your plan with can read it. Tell them it exists. Download it as a Word file so they can edit it.
Writing one for someone who died?
Use the obituary maker. It asks the questions a family needs answered: survivors, the service, donations, and what newspapers charge to run it. For the speech, the eulogy builder works from four answers. For more finished obituaries, read obituary examples.
Write-your-own obituary questions
What people ask before they write their own.
Short answers. The identity-theft source, Experian, is linked above.
How do you write your own obituary?
Start with the facts: your name, where you live, and the work you do. Add something only you would do, what you love, what you're proud of, and the people you'd want named. End with how you want to be remembered and where you'd want donations to go. Write it in third person, the way a newspaper runs it, and say died.
Is it weird to write your own obituary?
No. Plenty of people plan their own funerals and write their own wills, and this is the same kind of job. Your family won't have to write it the week you die, and it'll say what you'd want said, with the facts right.
Why does the tool write it in third person?
Because that's how an obituary runs in a newspaper or on a funeral home's site, so your family can use it as it is. It uses your first name. If you want to say something in your own voice too, write a letter and keep it with the obituary.
What should I leave out of my own obituary?
Your birth date, your birthplace, your street address, and your mother's maiden name, in any version that goes public. Experian lists place of birth, maiden names, and relatives' last names among the obituary details identity thieves use. If you post it while you're alive, those details still answer security questions on your own accounts.
Where should I keep it?
With your will or your end-of-life plans, and with the person who'll handle things after you die. Tell them it exists. A Word copy lets them edit it.
Plan the rest ahead →Does the tool save what I write?
Signed out, the draft stays in this browser so a closed tab doesn't lose it, and it isn't sent to MORTL. Signed in to a free account, the draft saves to your account. The share card is drawn in your browser.
The short answer
To write your own obituary, start with your name, where you live, and the work you do. Add something only you would do, what you love, and the people you'd want named. End with how you want to be remembered. Leave out your birth date, birthplace, and address. The free tool on this page writes it in third person, the way a newspaper runs it.
Reviewed October 2026 · Sources: Experian, What You Need to Know About Obituaries and Identity Theft (February 2, 2022)
How to write an obituary, with examples →Plan the rest ahead →
About this tool
What Write Your Own Obituary helps you do
Write the obituary you want people to read, the way a newspaper would run it, and turn it into a card to post. Get the facts down in one sitting, then come back for the specifics another day. Read it out loud once and cut anything that doesn't sound like you. Then put a copy where the person who handles things after you die will find it.
Plan the rest ahead →