Frequently Asked Questions

Echovita is a Canada-based organization that centralizes and aggregates publicly available obituaries, using basic facts only, to inform society of who has passed away. Echovita allows its millions of visitors to search for obituaries of loved ones who have passed away, receive obituaries and memorials for free via a subscription, as well as, express their sympathies. The platform also allows families to create free obituaries and memorials. Families can take advantage of the Echovita Solidarity Program, which gives them profits made from the commemorative page of their loved one.

By law, we can only post death notices consisting of basic facts: names, cities, and dates. We do this and add text, along with a list of predeceased and survived relatives. For reasons including copyright and consent, only obituaries posted by the family or funeral home directly to our website have photos and original texts. We encourage families and friends to add photos and upload original texts to their loved one's obituaries for free. We also encourage funeral homes to work with us by sharing their obituaries with permission from families. Funeral homes can share obituaries with us through our affiliates section for free to receive monetary aid for families to help with funeral costs, for the personal use of the family, or for a charitable donation as chosen by the family.

You can authorize an original obituary if you are a family member or close friend of the deceased and you own the rights to that content. You just have to click on the “Authorize the original obituary” button located directly on the page of the obituary. Thereafter, identify yourself and give your consent for the original obituary to be published with the full text accompanied by its photo.

By giving your consent to authorize the original obituary, the photo and full text will be published. This procedure makes it easier for visitors to the obituary to recognize the deceased. Thus, a greater number of visitors will be able to express their condolences and learn about the upcoming funeral service.

Claiming an obituary is providing proper documentation proving that you can rightfully activate donations to be received by you or a charity of your choice in memory of the deceased. You will also receive the majority of commission earned through sales of candles, flowers, and other products purchased by family and friends. To claim an already existing obituary, simply click "Solidarity program" located under the main photo or scroll down on the obituary page and click “Make a request” located in the box titled “Are you a family member?” on the right-hand side. Follow the simple steps and click “Claim for free.” You can also claim an obituary when creating one on Echovita, which is free.

Yes, you can write condolences directly on the obituary page, which appear in the “Sympathy messages” section.

Yes. When someone lights a candle and/or leaves condolences, they receive an immediate pop-up asking them if they wish to notify the family. If so, they must select the platform they wish to use to notify the family and supply an email address or social media account name of the family member they wish to share their message with. Echovita also sends condolences that have accumulated periodically to funeral homes via email if the family was not initially notified.

The specified locations on the obituaries could vary in meaning. The location can be where the deceased resided, the city of passing, or the city of the funeral home which provided services for the deceased. If, at any time, a member of the family wishes to change the location on their loved one’s obituary, you can submit a modification to be approved. The location is used to categorize the obituary by city for search purposes and free subscribers.

Yes. Contact us directly and notify us on what needs to be changed and we will make the necessary changes upon request. You may also click “Edit this obituary” and edit the obituary yourself. A member of our team will then review the changes that were submitted. Please note that complete original obituaries are displayed only when given direct permission by the family or funeral home.

Yes. If you would like to remove a obituary, click on the “Report” button located at the end of the obituary text. Please note that the link to the obituary might still be viewed on internet search engines until their maintenance is completed. However, when that link is clicked, the page will not be found because it had already been deleted by Echovita.com.

Click "Light a candle" then click "Light your candle" and fill in the boxes with the necessary information. Then click "Continue" and select the duration of time you would like the candle to burn and pay the associated fee. Once completed, you can share your message with the family directly by clicking one of the share icons that will appear in the top corner of your message box and providing the email address or social media name of a member of the family you would like to share it with.

Trees of Tribute are offered for our users through our partner Agilla Pro who works directly with the National Forest Foundation, Veritree, and the Arbor Day Foundation. If you wish to plant trees in memory of your loved one, your order will be received by Echovita and sent to Agilla Pro who makes the payment to the National Forest Foundation or Arbor Day Foundation. The National Forest Foundation or Arbor Day Foundation will then plant the number of trees you have selected among the National forests in The United States of America or Canada, depending on the country of which the deceased resided. You will receive a certificate by email directly.

If you are not 100% satisfied with your flower order or your trees of tribute order, or your flower order was not delivered, we will fully refund the cost of your order within 120 days. Please contact Blooms Today at 1-800-520-0573 regarding your flower order if you are not satisfied with the product you received, and have your order number ready. For virtual candles, refunds can be processed for candles that have not yet expired. 1 month candles can be refunded before the 1 month has passed; 1 year candles can be refunded within 120 days of purchase; and eternity candles, which remain lit forever, can be refunded within 120 days of purchase. For virtual candle cancellations and refunds, please contact us directly at [email protected].