Finding out if someone has died.

swingaloo

I remember once using a website to find out if someone I knew had passed away. It wasnt one of the Ancestry type, it was a sort of Gov register and it was free to search. For the life of me I cant find that site now. Does anyone have any idea which it may have been please.

Saver73

The directgov probate search might help

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

Keep_pedalling

The link saver73 has given will only provide info if the deceased estate went through probate which many estates don’t, but it should be your starting point. 

RAS

Check www.gro.gov.uk, which includes links to birth and death indexes, including deaths up to 2023.

Saver73

@swingaloo you could also search online to see if a funeral notice was posted.

p00hsticks

RAS said:

Check www.gro.gov.uk, which includes links to birth and death indexes, including deaths up to 2023.

Note that there is a gap in the years of deaths you can search online though, between (I think) 1958 and 1983
General Register Office (GRO) - Official information on births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths

This site is for England and Wales, I believe Scotland has a similar register

RAS

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk although given the frequency of some surnames knowing the mother's maiden name helps for more recent deaths.

Savvy_Sue

Saver73 said:

@swingaloo you could also search online to see if a funeral notice was posted.

Personally I think that's likely to be an easier starting point if the OP thinks they're still living wherever they were last time they were in contact - although you can specify area when searching the GRO, not knowing the year of death might be expected to throw up quite a few hits for all but the rarest of names!

In fact, you can't even start searching there without a year of death (+ /- 2 years).

Emmia

Savvy_Sue said:

Saver73 said:

@swingaloo you could also search online to see if a funeral notice was posted.

Personally I think that's likely to be an easier starting point if the OP thinks they're still living wherever they were last time they were in contact - although you can specify area when searching the GRO, not knowing the year of death might be expected to throw up quite a few hits for all but the rarest of names!

In fact, you can't even start searching there without a year of death (+ /- 2 years).

Out of curiosity I've just searched the probate register for an ex of mine who I was pretty sure was deceased (but didn't know for sure). I added his name, the year I last saw him and then searched... 

You can move the year forward and backward in 1 year increments. 

As he had a relatively unusual combination of first and surnames I'm pretty sure that I identified him in the register, and it is, sadly, as expected.

p00hsticks

Funeral notices are worth a try as a first shot - there are sites that gather ones from all the local papers.

However in my experience fewer and fewer people now announce deaths this way, as less and less people actually read a local paper, and IMHO the cost of the notice is ridiculously expensive for what it is .....

RAS

And people aren't keen to notify the local criminals of when the deceased's and their own house will be empty.