Page 3 | How do I find out whether someone is still living or has died?

watchingthishtread · 05/05/2026 09:42

Sorry if you've already said and I've missed it....have you tried contacting the new residents to ask if they have a forwarding address for the former occupant?

Original poster

AFrustratingSituation · 05/05/2026 09:40

Thanks for all your suggestions.

I tried family search and searched up 3 people I know have died in the last 10-15 years.

One of them showed up but the other two didn't. All relatives so details were accurate!

This person wasn't on there. But given neither were two others, I can't be certain.

They won't be on the electoral roll. They won't want to be found since moving. Mainly because they will know that I will be interested in when this person has died.

If I could find out where the person they are living with is living, that would probably.make it easier but I still wouldn't know if they were alive.

OP posts:

Lalgarh · 05/05/2026 09:38

Intriguing!

Stillreadingalot · 05/05/2026 09:37

Births , marriages an deaths in England are via the General Register Office. In Scotland you can search Scotlands People website free but you'd need to pay for a certificate.

Etoile41 · 05/05/2026 09:25

AFrustratingSituation · 04/05/2026 20:09

What is the quickest, cheapest, easiest and most straightforward way of checking whether someone is still living or has died?

Thank you.

Maybe check the electoral register? Depending on how common thier name is, you maybe able to narrow down your search.
Was that person living with anybody else when they moved? If so, it may be that finding them, will give you more info to find the person you are interested in finding

Coldcoffeekindamorning · 05/05/2026 09:23

Talkinpeace · 04/05/2026 22:24

Eh,

Signing off a death certificate with false information
is a criminal offence
(because it could be covering up murder)

Show quote history

They sign it off to the best of their knowledge but death records are not always accurate. Whoever logs the death might not know the correct name ie they could log it as John, Jonathan or James depending on how they knew them if they did not have access to their birth certificate.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 05/05/2026 09:07

If you Google their name and the area where they lived, you might pull up the funeral details.

SaffySaffron · 05/05/2026 09:02

Ancestry has a death index going up to last year. Here's one of my relatives on it.

How do I find out whether someone is still living or has died?

SaffySaffron · 05/05/2026 08:58

Ancestry does have a death index as late as 2024. I know as I have relatives on it.

ForPinkCrab · 05/05/2026 08:58

How about asking the neighbours of the house they used to live in ?

Aliceinmunsnetland · 05/05/2026 08:55

AInightingale · 04/05/2026 20:38

Ancestry has family trees which (I think) are searchable with a free membership. If any of their relatives are into family history, they may have included them in a tree if they are deceased - privacy settings mean that living persons aren't named though.

There are many Ancestry trees which are incorrect even with living relatives being recorded incorrectly. Dead ones more so as many people use info from others trees which are incorrect. They do not read them properly and end up with things like born in Middlesex 1975, Died in Brighton 1942. It is repeated time and time until it gets lost in the distance.
People take things as gospel and don't read the details properly if at all.
This is my line of work and I frequently see this.
It can skew trees and people, while proud of their tree, they can end up with dozens if not 100's of 'relatives' who they aren't related to.

Snaletrale · 05/05/2026 08:55

Good luck op

Arsewype · 05/05/2026 08:54

Clearinguptheclutter · 05/05/2026 07:48

Not helpful but Nicola Coughlan was on Graham Norton (I think) making a joke about how easy it was in Ireland to find out if someone is dead or alive. It’s called something like deaths.ie
it shouldn’t be hard really should it

Haha, yes it’s called rip.ie and I’d say pretty much every death notice goes on there.

LathkillDale · 05/05/2026 08:49

I wondered what had happened to a friend. I looked them up in the death records on Family Search. I found they had died in 2019 in England. I only knew their name, approximate age and an address, which I was given by them in the 80s.

JustAnotherWhinger · 05/05/2026 08:47

HelenaWilson · 05/05/2026 07:41

They moved to St Catherine's House in 1970.

They haven't been there for many years either.

I'm not sure that there is still anywhere you can go and look at the actual index volumes.

You can do the microfiche at the British library, but to physically search you have to go to local offices now. Which is a pain if you don’t know where something took place.

Not like you could many years ago.

Fupoffyagrasshole · 05/05/2026 08:29

Honestly I don’t know how you manage without rip.ie website we use in Ireland 😂🫢

Sidebeforeself · 05/05/2026 08:28

Is it Elvis? Because I don’t believe he’s dead either

MyRubyPanda · 05/05/2026 08:25

Yes FreeBMD only goes up to 2000 but it should help you find other useful info you dont know like date and place of birth. Might give you ideas on possible locations if they moved 'back home' as some older people do.

AInightingale · 05/05/2026 08:23

Would it be worth speaking to the estate agent who handled the sale, if it was only 18 months ago and they are named online in relation to it? They may be reluctant to discuss the owner or the circumstances in which it was sold, of course.

Original poster

AFrustratingSituation · 05/05/2026 08:14

I've just checked freeBMD but their search period only goes up to 2000.

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Swiftie1878 · 05/05/2026 08:11

Try FreeBMD.

Original poster

AFrustratingSituation · 05/05/2026 08:10

Clearinguptheclutter · 05/05/2026 07:48

Not helpful but Nicola Coughlan was on Graham Norton (I think) making a joke about how easy it was in Ireland to find out if someone is dead or alive. It’s called something like deaths.ie
it shouldn’t be hard really should it

It really shouldn't!

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Booboobagins · 05/05/2026 08:07

I did a general Google search to find out about my mums relatives for her. It worked as people list obituaries. It didn't help us find who were living though....

Clearinguptheclutter · 05/05/2026 07:48

Not helpful but Nicola Coughlan was on Graham Norton (I think) making a joke about how easy it was in Ireland to find out if someone is dead or alive. It’s called something like deaths.ie
it shouldn’t be hard really should it

Original poster

AFrustratingSituation · 05/05/2026 07:44

You know the house was sold 18 months ago. Could you knock on the door and say to the current owners that you're very sorry to bother them but you are looking for the previous occupants, do they know the circumstances on how the house was sold?

God, that's an interesting one!

I don't know if I'd have the confidence to do this. Or how I'd feel about actually seeing the house again. But it would certainly give me an answer as of 18 months ago!

Worth thinking about...

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