by Christopher L. Farmer, NFDA General Counsel

The issue of websites and posting of obituaries has been around for quite a while and garnered much attention in the funeral service world. Many website providers offer this as a valuable service to clients, providing them a place for communities to learn about the passing of friends, an additional income stream through commissions on the sale of memorial items through the page, and search engine optimization (“SEO”), among other benefits.

Recently, NFDA has been made aware that some website providers are mirroring their funeral home client’s obituaries on a page, separate from the funeral home’s website. The website providers we have spoken to have said that this is greatly beneficial to the funeral home and that their clients are aware of the practice.

However, it appears as if at least some funeral home owners are not aware that their obituaries are being posted on a website other than their funeral home’s webpages. At NFDA, want to make sure that our members are aware of issues affecting their business and have the information they need to make the best decisions for them and their businesses.

If you have questions about your website or obituaries, we encourage you to reach out to your provider to get more information.

If you do choose to speak to your website provider, issues you might want to ask about include:

• Commission Schedule. If your website provider is selling tribute items on your funeral home’s webpage and a separate mirrored webpage, are you receiving a commission from sales on the other page and are the commission schedules the same?
• Opt-Out. If your website provider is mirroring your obits on a separate webpage, do you have the ability to opt-out from that reproduction on a case-by-case basis (e.g., if the family requests it to be turned off) or opt out from the reproduction all together?
• The Benefits of Mirroring. If your website provider is mirroring obits or if they are not but have the ability to do so, ask them the benefits of mirroring and if they recommend it for your business.

We want to make sure our members are fully informed on this issue and can make the decision that is right for them and their business. 

In addition, please visit www.nfda.org/LegalForms where you can find information and forms regarding obtaining authorization to post an obituary on the funeral home’s and other internet sites and information on reporting a death to a social media site.