Obituary Removal & Search Cleanup
Remove copied, fake & unauthorised obituaries from websites and Google
By Hugo, MGMT Reputation · Updated 20 October 2026
MGMT Reputation removes obituaries copied, rewritten or published without your family’s consent, from $1,000 per URL, and we start within one business day of your signed authorisation. Rated 5.0 on Google · 96 reviews across 5 offices, we act as your family’s authorised representative, so you never have to deal with these sites yourself.
Whether it was copied by an obituary aggregator, rewritten by software, or posted about someone who is still alive, an unauthorised obituary can sit above the real one in Google, selling candles and flowers against your family’s grief, often with the wrong age, the wrong relatives or the wrong cause of death. Our work combines:
- Formal removal requests to the site, its web host and its domain registrar.
- Google removal once each copy is gone, or where it breaks Google’s policies.
- Protecting the real obituary: making sure the one your family wrote is the one people find, and watching for new copies.
An obituary is written once, by the people who loved them. It should be the one people find. We locate every copy, make the formal requests and follow each one until it is gone, so your family never has to deal with these sites yourself.
Who this is for
Our obituary removal service is for families, and for anyone who has found a death notice they never approved, including about themselves.
- Families who found a loved one’s obituary on a site they never approved, alongside paid candles, trees or flowers
- Families facing a rewritten obituary with wrong names, ages, relatives or causes of death
- People who are alive and found an obituary or death notice about themselves
- Families whose obituary exposed a home address or the time of the service
- Families in Canada, where copying sites have drawn complaints in Ontario and Quebec (see our Ontario office)
- Funeral homes acting for the families they serve (see Funeral Homes)
What we remove
Copied obituaries
- Word-for-word copies on obituary aggregator sites
- Copies with virtual candles, memorial trees and flower shops attached
- Copies that outrank the funeral home’s own page
Rewritten & AI obituaries
- Software-written versions with invented or wrong details
- Short videos on YouTube and social media
- Several different versions of the same obituary
Fake death notices
- Obituaries about people who are alive
- Mistakes made by software, and deliberate fakes
- Treated first, as urgent
Exposed personal details
- Home addresses and family names
- Service dates and times that leave a home empty
- Personal details copied onto other sites
Our strategy
Obituary copy audit
We search for every copy of the obituary: aggregator sites, AI-written versions, videos and social posts, and record each one with its web address and the date we found it.
Takedown requests
We contact each site on the family’s behalf with a formal removal request. Where the family wrote the obituary, word-for-word copies are usually the most straightforward to remove.
Host, registrar & ad-network escalation
When a site ignores us, we go to the company hosting it, the company that registered its domain and the ad networks paying it. Each has its own rules.
Google de-indexing
Once a copy is gone, or where it breaks Google’s policies on personal information, we ask Google to drop it from search and follow it until it does.
Timeline & results
We start: within one business day Work begins within one business day of your signed authorisation.
Each copy: set in your quote Word-for-word copies on sites with a reachable host usually move fastest. Anonymous overseas sites take longer, and we tell you that upfront.
Google: once a copy is gone We request removal from search results and follow each one until it drops. Results may vary. MGMT Reputation cannot guarantee specific search engine outcomes.
Why this matters
Copying sites rank for a name in the days after a death, when friends and relatives are searching for service details. The copy often wins. People sign the wrong guestbook, buy flowers from the wrong shop and read facts that were never true.
Families have gone to the press. In Ontario and Quebec, families have told CTV News and Global News about finding loved ones’ obituaries reposted on Echovita without their knowledge, and Ontario’s funeral regulator, the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, has warned families about third-party sites.
An obituary is written once, by the people who loved them. It should be the one people find. We serve families across Ontario and the rest of Canada from St. Catharines, and across the US from Chicago, Buffalo, Nashville and Seattle.
REMOVE COPIED OR FAKE OBITUARIES FROM GOOGLE
Let us handle obituary removal quietly and professionally, so your family can grieve without dealing with these sites.
Top questions about obituary removal
Can an obituary be removed from the internet?
Yes, when it was copied, rewritten or published without the family’s consent. It is removed through requests to the site, its host, its registrar and Google, made by the family or someone they authorise.
How do I remove an obituary from Echovita?
Through a formal removal request from the family or its representative, followed by a Google removal request once the page is gone. We make the requests and follow them up for you.
How long does obituary removal take?
We start within one business day of your signed authorisation. Each copy’s timeline depends on the site and its host, and is set in your quote.
Someone posted an obituary about me, and I’m alive. What do I do?
Don’t share the link or argue with the site, because attention can push it higher in search. Book a free, confidential consultation and tell us it’s a fake death notice; we treat it first.
Why is my loved one’s obituary on a website we never used?
Some sites copy obituaries from funeral home and newspaper pages and earn from ads, virtual candles, memorial trees and flowers sold alongside them. Families in Ontario and Quebec have told CTV News and Global News about finding obituaries reposted on Echovita without their knowledge. Finding one doesn’t mean your family or the funeral home agreed to it.
Should we pay the site to remove the obituary or its ads?
We advise against it. Paying rewards the practice and doesn’t take the page out of Google. One site has been reported charging $4.99 to remove ads from an obituary. A formal removal request doesn’t depend on paying the site.
Can the funeral home get the copies taken down?
A funeral home can ask, but the request carries most weight from whoever wrote the obituary, usually the family. We can act for the family, the funeral home, or both. Funeral homes that want every obituary watched can use our obituary protection plan.
Can Google remove an obituary that’s still online?
Sometimes. Google removes some results that expose contact details, such as a home address, even while the page stays up. Otherwise Google drops a result once the page itself is gone, and we follow each request until it does.
Are fake obituaries a scam?
Some are. Families have told reporters about several fake, AI-written obituaries appearing after a death, each with different wrong details. If an obituary you don’t recognise asks you to pay, donate or click a link, don’t. Send it to us and we’ll treat it as urgent.
Do you remove obituaries in Canada?
Yes. We serve families across Ontario and the rest of Canada from our St. Catharines office. In 2019, Canada’s Federal Court issued a CA$20 million default judgment and an injunction against Afterlife, an obituary-copying site.
Is it legal to ask for an obituary to be removed?
Yes. We act as your authorised representative and say so in every request.
Obituary Removal
Remove copied, rewritten and fake obituaries-
From $1,000 per URL, scoped in your consultation
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We start within one business day