Death Verification API

Make your first API call

Send POST /api/v1/verify from your code: required fields, an example, response fields, and limits.

Last updated October 8, 2026

Plan: Death Verification API · For: Developers · Time: 5 min read

Before you start

Send a request

  1. Send a POST to https://api.obituarymonitor.com/api/v1/verify.
  2. Put your key in the header: Authorization: Bearer om_live_...
  3. Send a JSON body with first_name, last_name, and at least one of these:
    • address.state (2-letter code)
    • address.city with address.state
    • address.county with address.state
    • dob.year, or dob.month with dob.year
POST https://api.obituarymonitor.com/api/v1/verify
Authorization: Bearer om_live_...
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "first_name": "Jordan",
  "last_name": "Ellis",
  "middle_name": "Lee",
  "dob": { "year": 1947 },
  "address": { "city": "Dayton", "state": "OH" },
  "client_ref": "your-record-123"
}

Without a disambiguator, you get 400 invalid_request.

Useful optional fields

FieldWhat it does
middle_nameIdentity anchor
death_dateHelps when you already have a death record
client_refYour own ID, returned in the response
search_depthrecent, standard, or extended. Leave it out to let the API choose
lookback_yearsHow far back to look. Only with extended; capped by your agreement
require_matchFields the obituary must confirm
dob_policystrict or reject_conflicts
include_survivorsInclude family members named in the obituary. See Batch verification and family extraction

Read the response

Every successful response includes result, confidence, confidence_band, review_recommended, scoring_reasons, client_ref, search_scope, checked_at, match, and candidates. See Understand results and scores.

Limits and timeouts

  • Responses include X-RateLimit-* and X-Quota-* headers. Slow down when you get close, and retry after a pause on rate_limited.
  • Deeper searches take longer. With extended depth, a birth year, or family members, a response can take several minutes. Set your HTTP timeout to at least 180 seconds for those calls.

Full field list: the API Reference in the portal, or the public API docs.

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