Contents
Can I add my relative or friend to Find a Grave?
I have a presumed burial location, should I add the memorial?
Is it acceptable to add a memorial for someone who is still living?
Is it acceptable to add a memorial for someone who recently died when their burial location or resting placed isn't yet known?
What if someone was cremated or does not have a traditional 'grave'?
Can I add a memorial for someone whose grave has been reclaimed or reused?
Can I add a memorial for someone who is buried in a cemetery outside of the United States?
Can I add a memorial from a newspaper obituary or other 3rd party source?
Can I add a memorial for my pet?
Can a pet be family linked to memorials for people?
You can learn more about Adding a Memorial here.
Can I add my relative or friend to Find a Grave?
You can add a new memorial if there is currently no memorial for the individual. Search the site thoroughly before adding a memorial. You can learn more about adding a memorial for close relative who has died in the past year at this page.
Why can't I find the person I'm looking for?
It is possible your search is too narrow. Broaden your search for more search results. If you still don't see the memorial, it is possible the individual is not yet memorialized on Find a Grave. Find a Grave is a work in progress and documenting all burials worldwide is a massive undertaking.
I have a presumed burial location, should I add the memorial?
No, burial locations or dispositions should be verified information.
Is it acceptable to add a memorial for someone who is still living?
It is not acceptable to add memorials for people who are living. We understand it can be difficult to determine while transcribing a cemetery. We encourage all contributors to review the dates on the stone (or research otherwise) and try to determine if the individual could reasonably be alive or is deceased. If they could be alive, please don't create a memorial from that name.
Our policy hasn't changed, we have always discouraged memorials added for someone who is living. We are emphasizing the importance of privacy for living individuals. Memorials for living people shouldn't be added, but if they have been they will be removed when a family member or the individual contacts the manager and requests removal. This can be done by selecting Suggest Edits from the memorial, scrolling down and clicking on Contact Manager. Send your request through that form. If there isn't a Contact Manager button, please contact us with a link to the memorial, your relationship, and your request.
You are welcome to create a 'pre-need' memorial for yourself provided that you have a pre-need headstone already in place in a cemetery. In the rare case where you need to create a pre-need memorial for yourself, please include a note at the top of the biography to let people know that you are still living.
Is it acceptable to add a memorial for someone who recently died when their burial location or resting place isn't yet known?
No, please wait to create the memorial until this is known.
We've seen a small number of community members add memorials for people who have recently died or likely have died in a tragedy before they have been laid to rest. This often coincides with high news media coverage. This is not in keeping with the purpose of the site. Find a Grave's purpose is to catalog and make available final disposition information. If it is too soon after someone's passing for burial information to be known, please wait to create the memorial. If a person's death hasn't been confirmed or they haven't been declared deceased, a memorial for them should not be added to the site. Please be sensitive to family members and allow time for them to arrange for a burial, a cenotaph, or other type of memorial for their family member.
Famous memorials are a special collection approved, curated and solely maintained by Find a Grave. We may make an exception from time to time. Please do your best to send in the memorial with burial information and review questions about the famous submission process.
What if someone was cremated or does not have a traditional grave?
Find a Grave supports common alternative dispositions to traditional burial. This includes cremation, burial at sea, donated to medical science and lost at war. If there is an existing cenotaph within a cemetery for someone who had an alternative disposition, do NOT add another memorial under the alternative disposition. Learn more about Non-Cemetery Burials.
Can I add a memorial for someone whose grave has been reclaimed or reused?
We have guidelines that are broadly applicable to this type of grave due to many factors involved, such as remains being buried deeper, remains exhumed and buried in a mass grave in the cemetery, remains exhumed, then cremated and returned to the family, etc.
Research and try to find out where the remains are now or what happened to them. Then you can add the memorial with that burial or burial type information.
If you have information that the individual’s remains were buried in the cemetery, but the individual has or no longer has a stone, you can add the memorial to the cemetery, as you have that record. Share notes about the gravesite in the gravesite details field.
If there is still a marker in the cemetery but the remains are no longer there, add the memorial in the cemetery and designate it as a cenotaph. Note, If there is an existing cenotaph within a cemetery for someone who had an alternative disposition, do not add another memorial under the alternative disposition. The alternative disposition (e.g. cremated, buried at sea, etc.) can be noted on the cenotaph memorial.
Can I add a memorial for someone who is buried in a cemetery outside of the United States?
Yes. Search for the cemetery and then select Add a Memorial. If the cemetery is not currently listed, follow the instructions on how to add a cemetery.
Can I add a memorial from a newspaper obituary or other third-party source?
Find a Grave does not discourage the legitimate indexing of the deceased through obituaries or other third-party accounts. Newspapers represent a very good source of information as a public record. We ask that those who index and memorialize the deceased from newspapers and other third-party accounts do so with full respect of copyright, refrain from adding information about living people (e.g. survivors) to protect their privacy, and respond generously to the family of the deceased. Find a Grave takes no position on the appropriate timing of submitting such indexes. Please reference our Terms and Conditions and Community Guidelines.
Can I add a memorial for my pet?
Yes. If the pet is buried in a cemetery, the memorial can be added to that cemetery. If the pet is not buried in a cemetery, use the Animal / Pet option within the Not Buried in a Cemetery option.
Can a pet be family linked to memorials for people?
No, this isn’t appropriate use of family linking.