Stop Wasting Field Hours.
Get Live/Deceased Signals.
Get an immediate "Live/Deceased" signal on your subjects based on 2,500+ daily obituary sources. Our real-time surveillance system verifies subject status before you deploy field resources—saving hours on every case.
35%
Less wasted field effort
2,500+
Sources monitored
90%+
Match confidence
4-24h
Alert delivery
The Hidden Cost of Pursuing Deceased Subjects
Every hour spent investigating someone who has passed is an hour wasted—plus the risk of contacting grieving families and damaging your professional reputation.
Wasted Investigation Time
Hours of surveillance, background checks, and location efforts on subjects who are no longer alive.
Lost Revenue
Resources spent on unrecoverable cases that could have been allocated to active, profitable work.
Reputation Risk
Contacting grieving family members damages your professional reputation and client relationships.
The Economics of Subject Status Verification
Private investigation is fundamentally a business of allocating limited resources to maximize successful case outcomes. Investigators have finite time, and every hour spent pursuing a subject who cannot be found because they have passed away is an hour that could have been applied to a productive case. The direct costs are obvious: field time, mileage, database searches, and report preparation all consume resources without generating results. The indirect costs may be even more significant, including opportunity costs from delayed work on other cases and reputational damage from delivering non-results to clients.
Traditional death verification methods have significant limitations. The Social Security Death Master File, while useful for bulk verification, has known gaps and delays. Recent deaths may not appear for months, and certain categories of deaths are excluded entirely. State vital records databases require knowing which state to search and often involve fees and processing delays. These official sources are valuable but insufficient for the real-time verification needs of active investigations.
Obituary monitoring provides a practical supplement to official death records. Obituaries typically appear within days of death, weeks or months before the death is reflected in official databases. For investigators managing portfolios of active subjects, this earlier notification window can prevent significant wasted effort. A subject who died last week will not appear in the Death Master File for months, but their obituary may already be published and searchable through our monitoring system.
The integration of death verification into case management workflows creates additional efficiencies. Rather than checking each subject individually before deployment, investigators can upload subject lists to our monitoring system and receive immediate alerts when any monitored subject appears in an obituary. This passive monitoring approach requires no ongoing effort once subjects are added, yet provides continuous protection against wasted resources throughout the life of each case.
Professional Standards and Case Documentation
Beyond efficiency considerations, death verification serves an important role in maintaining professional standards. Contacting the family of a deceased subject, whether through surveillance, interviews, or other investigation methods, creates significant problems. At minimum, it demonstrates a lack of due diligence that reflects poorly on the investigator and their firm. At worst, it can result in formal complaints, damaged client relationships, and potential legal liability if the contact causes emotional distress to grieving family members.
Professional investigators understand the importance of documentation throughout the investigation process. When subject status verification is part of your standard workflow, you can demonstrate to clients that appropriate checks were conducted before deploying resources. If a subject is later discovered to be deceased, the documentation shows that the death occurred after your verification check, protecting you from allegations of negligent investigation practices.
ObituaryMonitor provides timestamped documentation of all monitoring activity, including when subjects were added, what sources were searched, and when matches were or were not found. This audit trail can be included in case files to demonstrate that appropriate verification procedures were followed. For investigations involving legal proceedings, this documentation may be valuable evidence supporting the thoroughness and professionalism of your investigation methodology.
The documentation also supports case closure decisions. When a subject appears in an obituary, you have clear evidence to share with clients explaining why the investigation cannot proceed as originally planned. This evidence is more credible and easier to explain than simply reporting that the subject could not be located. Clients appreciate transparency, and documented death verification provides a definitive explanation that closes the matter without ambiguity.
Why Investigators Choose ObituaryMonitor
Automated obituary verification that integrates into your existing workflow.
Stop Chasing Ghost Leads
Know immediately if a subject has passed away before spending time and money on surveillance, interviews, or location efforts.
Optimize Field Resources
Redirect investigation hours from deceased subjects to active cases. Improve your success rate and profitability on every engagement.
Close Cases Faster
Get definitive deceased status verification to close cases quickly. Document subject status with timestamped obituary evidence.
Protect Your Reputation
Avoid contacting grieving families about deceased subjects. Maintain professional standards and client relationships.
Common Investigation Scenarios
See how ObituaryMonitor fits into your daily work.
Skip Tracing
Verify debtor status before initiating collection activities or legal proceedings.
Asset Recovery
Confirm subject status before expending resources on asset location efforts.
Insurance Fraud
Verify claimant status as part of fraud investigation due diligence.
Background Checks
Include death verification as part of comprehensive background screening.
Locate Investigations
Screen subjects before field work to avoid pursuing deceased individuals.
Legal Process Service
Confirm subject is alive before attempting service of legal documents.
Built for Investigation Workflows
- Monitor multiple subjects across all 50 states
- High-confidence matching reduces false positives
- Email and SMS alerts for immediate notification
- Bulk upload subject lists via CSV
- Obituary links for case documentation
- API access for system integration
- Real-time scanning of 2,500+ sources
- Priority scan queue for urgent cases
Marcus T.
Skip Tracing Investigator
Atlanta, GA
"In skip tracing, knowing if a subject has passed is critical. ObituaryMonitor helps us close cases faster and treat families with respect. It's become essential to our workflow."
Success Stories from Investigation Professionals
See how investigators and skip tracers are using ObituaryMonitor to improve efficiency and close cases faster.
National Skip Tracing Agency
Skip Tracing Operations • Investigation Services
Challenge
Wasting field resources on deceased subjects. Investigators were being deployed to locate individuals who had passed away months earlier, resulting in wasted time and embarrassing family contacts.
Solution
Implemented pre-deployment death verification for all active cases, with automatic alerts when monitored subjects are found in obituary databases.
Results
23%
Fewer Wasted Visits
1 week
Time to ROI
"We deployed an investigator to a subject who had been deceased for 6 months. That was the last time that happened. ObituaryMonitor paid for itself in the first week."
— Marcus T., Operations Director
Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit
Special Investigations • Insurance Services
Challenge
Verifying claimant status for suspicious life insurance claims. Manual verification was slow and inconsistent, allowing potential fraud to slip through.
Solution
Real-time obituary monitoring during investigation periods, with automated alerts and documentation for case files.
Results
$2.1M
Fraud Prevented (Q1)
3
Fraudulent Claims Caught
"The documentation features alone are worth it. Every alert is timestamped and linked to the source obituary—exactly what we need for court proceedings."
— Sandra K., Lead Investigator
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions from investigators and skip tracers.
How does death verification help with skip tracing?
Skip tracers waste significant time pursuing deceased subjects. Our system verifies subject status before you deploy field resources, saving hours of wasted effort and protecting your reputation by avoiding contact with grieving families.
How accurate is the matching?
We require 90%+ confidence before sending alerts. For common names, this means matching multiple factors: full name, location, approximate age, and family members when available. This minimizes false positives while maintaining high detection rates.
Can I integrate this with my case management system?
Yes. We offer API access for seamless integration with your existing case management and CRM systems. Automate subject status checks as part of your standard intake workflow.
How quickly will I be notified when an obituary is published?
Typically within 4-24 hours of an obituary appearing in our monitored sources. We scan 2,500+ sources multiple times daily to catch new obituaries as quickly as possible.
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