Changes to Find-A-Grave

Find A Grave has recently announced a new system for the posting of memorials for the “recently deceased” - which they define as those who have died within the past year - in an effort to give the families greater opportunity than they have had previously to control the death reports and memorials for their own loved ones.

The announcement has been posted on the Find A Grave website under the title “Memorials for those who are recently deceased,” and the new conditions stated applied from 11 January 2022.

 

^{Over the past few years there has been some controversy over people dedicated to the website adding memorials for anyone and everyone, scrolling newspaper death and funeral notices and rushing to create memorials for complete strangers.  For some it seems to be a numbers game, trying to create as many memorials as they can, as quickly possible.  There have been ongoing complaints by family members who have gone online to create a memorial for a loved one, only to find one already listed, owned by a complete stranger.  While some memorial creators have been happy for family members to take ownership of, and update or correct memorials, others have not.}

 

^{The new system announced attempts to address this issue, and while it is not perfect - there are still questions about editing existing memorials, proof of relationship and so on - it is certainly a big step in the right direction.}