Online Death records have long been used to help with genealogy research. They are especially helpful because they are the most recent records available about an ancestor and may often exist for persons who have no birth or marriage records. They are considered to be "primary source" records, because the information is recorded by an eye witness, at the time the death takes place.

Death records form part of the vital record group that contain the birth records, marriage records and divorce records. These records are maintained by the government agency where the death takes place or even the capital of the state where the deceased resided.

Online obituaries records are being posted to Internet and are helpful as starting points for individuals. Many services have set up shop online to offer comprehensive search databases. The information in these databases is updated daily, with information coming from multiple different sources, including the obituaries records, public and governmental records, and many other sources.

This commercial site is designed in such a manner that you can find it in any manner that you choose. You can simply enter a name or state and it will pull up a list of records for you.

Hundreds of websites are found on all major search engines offering Public Death Records. In any case, people are generally better off with commercial information providers as their superb service more than justify their fees. On top of public sources, they tap into private and proprietary database networks.