By Hugo, MGMT Reputation · Updated 21 October 2026 · 11 min read
Yes, a fake or copied obituary published without the family’s consent can be taken down through the site, its host, its domain registrar and Google. MGMT Reputation does it for families from $1,000 per URL, starting within one business day of your signed authorisation, and we’re rated 5.0 on Google · 96 reviews across 5 offices.
You searched your mother’s name to send a friend the service details. The first result wasn’t the funeral home. It was a site you’d never heard of, with her obituary, a photo, and a shop selling virtual candles.
That is what makes copied obituaries so hard to bear. The words are yours, written in the worst week of your life, and someone else is earning from them. Sometimes they’ve been rewritten by software, and the age is wrong, a grandchild is missing, or the cause of death is invented. Sometimes the obituary is about someone who is still alive.
This guide explains why these pages exist, the four methods that work in 2026, which one fits your situation, and what makes things worse.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
| In 2019, Canada’s Federal Court issued a CA$20 million default judgment and an injunction against Afterlife, a site that had posted more than one million obituaries. |
| Source: Obituary piracy, Wikipedia |
Key Takeaways
- Fake and copied obituaries exist to earn money from ads, virtual candles, memorial trees and flowers.
- Word-for-word copies are usually the easiest to remove, because the obituary belongs to whoever wrote it.
- AI-rewritten versions need other routes: the site’s host, its registrar, its ad networks and Google.
- Google can drop a copy from search once it’s gone, or where it breaks Google’s policies.
- Copies reappear, so removal only works when it’s followed up.
What’s Been Reported (2025–2026)
- Ontario, January 2025: families told CTV News they found loved ones’ obituaries reposted on Echovita without consent, alongside paid virtual candles and memorial trees.
- Quebec: CTV Montreal reported Echovita is based in Quebec City, with virtual candles priced from $7.99 to $24.99.
- Ontario, April 2025: the Bereavement Authority of Ontario warned families about third-party obituary sites. Global News reported that Quebec’s business registry links Echovita to a listed director of Afterlife.
- Kentucky, November 2025: a family told Atlanta News First about several fake, AI-written obituaries of their son, each with wrong details.
- Manitoba, January 2026: a Manitoban called for third-party obituary sites to be banned (CTV News).
- Oregon, July 2026: a person found their own obituary on a remembrance site while still alive; the site’s admins removed it (The Nerd Stash).
Behind it is money. Industry coverage has described obituary copying as a billion-dollar business, and Echovita reported CA$5 million in revenue in 2020 (Connecting Directors).
Why Fake and Copied Obituaries Are So Hard to Get Rid Of
Before choosing a method, it helps to understand why these pages rank so well and stay up so long.
- Search demand: in the days after a death, friends, colleagues and relatives all search the same name. Copying sites are built to catch those searches.
- Speed: copies, and now AI-written versions and videos, can appear within a day (Wikipedia). Families have reported several versions of one obituary, each with different mistakes (Atlanta News First).
- Money: ads, virtual candles, memorial trees and flowers sold alongside each copy.
- Anonymity: many sites hide who runs them, and some are hosted overseas.
This is why a single email to a contact form rarely works, and why removal has to use more than one route.
The 4 Methods to Remove a Fake or Copied Obituary in 2026
Work through these in order. Each one escalates, and the strongest results come from using them together.
Method 1 Ask the Site to Remove It
Start at the source. A clear, formal request from the family, or someone the family authorises, saying who wrote the obituary and that it was published without consent.
What helps a request succeed:
- The web address of the copy, and of the original
- Who wrote the original, and their relationship to the person who died
- A plain statement that the family did not consent
Families in Ontario and Quebec have told reporters about finding obituaries reposted on Echovita without their knowledge (CTV News). A site like that is the first place to send a request.
Timeline: varies. Some sites act quickly; some never reply.
Method 2 Go to the Host and the Registrar
Every website is hosted by a company and registered through another. Both have their own rules, and many act when a site breaks them, especially on copyright and personal information. When the site ignores you, this is the next step.
Timeline: varies by host. Reputable hosts usually respond; anonymous offshore hosts may not.
| WHEN LEGAL ROUTES COME INTO PLAY |
| Most copies come down without going near a court. When they don’t, three formal routes exist. Copyright: whoever wrote the obituary usually owns it, so a copyright notice to the site’s host is a legal request, not a favour. Privacy: where a page exposes a home address or other personal details, privacy rules and Google’s personal-information route can apply. Regulators and courts: in Ontario, the Bereavement Authority of Ontario has warned families about these sites. In 2019, Canada’s Federal Court issued a CA$20 million default judgment and an injunction against Afterlife, and in 2021 SCI, a large US funeral home group, sued Echovita. Lawsuits are slow and public, and public attention can push a page higher in search, so they’re a last resort for a family, not a first step. |
Method 3 Ask Google to Remove It From Search
Google doesn’t run these sites, but it decides whether they show up. Once a copy is deleted, Google’s outdated-content route takes the old result out of search. Where a page exposes personal information, Google’s personal-information removal route may apply even while the page stays up.
Timeline: once the page is gone, removal from results usually follows.
Method 4 Protect the Real Obituary
When a copy won’t come down, make sure the version your family wrote is the one people find. Publish it in one trusted place, such as the funeral home’s site or a newspaper, and share only that link. Where a copy still ranks, search suppression can push it down. Then keep watching for new copies. The same approach works for old news articles.
Timeline: ongoing.
Which Method Is Right for Your Situation?
| What you found | Start with | Then |
|---|---|---|
| A word-for-word copy on an obituary site | Method 1 | Methods 2 and 3 |
| An AI-rewritten version with wrong details | Method 2 | Methods 3 and 4 |
| A YouTube or social video | The platform’s report route | Method 3 |
| An obituary about someone who is alive | Methods 1 and 2, urgently | Method 3 |
| A home address or service time exposed | Method 3 (personal information) | Method 1 |
| Get copied obituaries taken down, starting within one business day |
| ✓ Every copy, rewrite and video found ✓ Requests to each site, host, registrar and Google ✓ A dated report of what came down |
| Book a free, confidential consultation → |
3 Things That Will Make a Fake Obituary Worse
- Sharing the link to complain about it. Every click and share tells search engines the page matters. Talk about it privately, and send people the real obituary instead.
- Paying the site to edit or hide it. Some sites charge families fees. It rewards the practice and doesn’t remove the page from search. A formal removal request doesn’t depend on paying the site, and it covers search as well as the page.
- Waiting for it to fall away. Copies don’t age out; they get copied again. The sooner the requests go in, the fewer copies there are to chase.
How MGMT Reputation Removes Fake and Copied Obituaries
Families who try this alone often find anonymous sites, contact forms that go nowhere and hosts overseas, while there’s a funeral to plan. We act as your family’s authorised representative. You sign one short form, and we start within one business day.
- Copy audit: we find every copy, rewrite and video.
- Takedown requests: to each site, host, registrar and ad network.
- Google removal: for every copy once it’s gone.
- Follow-up and proof: we chase every reply, re-file when copies return, and send you a dated report.
Obituary removal starts at $1,000 per URL, quoted per job in a free, confidential consultation. We serve families across the US from Chicago, Buffalo, Nashville and Seattle, and across Ontario and the rest of Canada from St. Catharines. Funeral homes can protect every obituary they publish with monthly obituary protection.
FAQs
Q1. Can a fake obituary be removed from the internet?
Yes, in most cases. Copies published without the family’s consent can be removed through the site, its host, its registrar and Google.
Q2. How do I remove an obituary from Echovita?
Send a formal removal request as the family or its representative, then ask Google to remove the page from search once it’s gone.
Q3. Who owns an obituary?
Usually the person who wrote it, often a family member, or the funeral home if its staff wrote it.
Q4. What should I do if I find an obituary about myself?
Don’t share it. Note the web address and date, and act quickly: a false death notice can confuse friends, colleagues and anyone who searches your name.
Q5. Is it legal to copy an obituary?
It depends on the country and how the page was made. In 2019, Canada’s Federal Court issued a CA$20 million default judgment against Afterlife, and in 2021 SCI, a large US funeral home group, sued Echovita.
Q6. Why is my loved one’s obituary on Echovita?
Some sites copy obituaries from funeral home and newspaper pages and earn from candles, trees, flowers and ads. Families in Ontario and Quebec have told reporters about this happening without their consent.
Q7. Should I pay to remove the ads or the obituary?
No. It rewards the practice and doesn’t remove the page from Google.
Q8. Can the funeral home remove a copied obituary?
It can ask, but the request carries most weight from whoever wrote it, usually the family. Funeral homes can also protect every obituary they publish with monthly obituary protection.
Q9. How do I report a fake obituary video on YouTube?
Through YouTube’s own report route, then a Google removal request once the video is gone. See YouTube Video Removal.
We Remove It for You
If you’ve found a fake or copied obituary of someone you love, or of yourself, you don’t have to deal with it alone. Book a free, confidential consultation and we’ll show you every copy and what can be removed.
