# Legacy.com Obituary & Death Notice Scraper (`jungle_synthesizer/legacy-com-obituary-death-notice-scraper`) Actor

Search Legacy.com's obituary and death-notice database by name or by newspaper, or pull the most recently posted notices across all outlets. Returns structured records: full name, age, dates, city/state, newspaper affiliate, and funeral home name + website.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/legacy-com-obituary-death-notice-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.40 / 1,000 record scrapeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Legacy.com Obituary & Death Notice Scraper

Search [Legacy.com](https://www.legacy.com)'s obituary and death-notice database by name, or pull recent notices from a specific newspaper or funeral home. Returns structured records — full name, age, dates, city/state, newspaper affiliate, and funeral home name + website — ready to use for final-expense outreach, probate/estate research, inherited-property prospecting, or genealogy.

***

### Legacy.com Obituary & Death Notice Scraper Features

- Search by name or keyword and get every matching obituary as a structured record, not a page render
- Pull recent notices from a specific newspaper or funeral home outlet directly
- Leave the input empty to get the most recently posted notices across every outlet on the network
- Optional full-obituary-text fetch — pulls the complete text plus exact birth/death dates when the source publishes them
- Funeral home name and website, and the publishing newspaper's name, are first-class fields — not something you have to scrape a second time
- No account or login required to run

***

### Who Uses Legacy.com Data?

- **Final-expense and life-insurance agencies** — recently-deceased records for beneficiary and next-of-kin outreach
- **Probate and estate attorneys, and probate-lead vendors** — find estates entering administration as soon as a death is published
- **Real-estate wholesalers** — inherited-property signals, sourced straight from the death notice
- **Genealogy and public-records researchers** — a structured, searchable death index instead of manually reading newspaper obituary pages

***

### How Legacy.com Obituary & Death Notice Scraper Works

1. Give it one or more search keywords (a name, surname, or other term), one or more newspaper/funeral-home site slugs, or nothing at all.
2. With keywords: each one is looked up independently and returns its matching obituaries.
3. With site slugs: each outlet's own recent-notices page is pulled directly.
4. With neither: you get Legacy.com's own most-recently-posted feed, across every outlet.
5. Turn on full-text fetch to also pull each obituary's complete text and, when published, exact birth/death dates.
6. Everything lands in your dataset as flat, ready-to-use rows.

***

### Input

```json
{
  "keywords": ["Smith"],
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

Or browse a specific outlet directly:

```json
{
  "affiliateSites": ["nytimes"],
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

Or leave both empty for the most recently posted notices network-wide:

```json
{
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

| Field             | Type             | Default | Description |
|-------------------|------------------|---------|-------------|
| `keywords`        | array of strings | `[]`    | Search terms to look up (a name, surname, or other free text). Each keyword is looked up independently. Leave empty to fetch the most recently posted obituaries across every newspaper instead. |
| `affiliateSites`  | array of strings | `[]`    | Browse a specific outlet directly by its site slug (the segment after `legacy.com/us/obituaries/` in that outlet's own listing page, e.g. `nytimes`). Combine with `keywords` or use on its own. |
| `includeFullText` | boolean          | `false` | Also open each obituary's own page for its full text and, when the source provides them, exact birth/death dates. Uses one extra request per record — leave off for large runs. |
| `maxItems`        | integer          | `20`    | Maximum number of obituary records to return. |

#### Resuming a large crawl

Every run emits a `resumeCursor` in its Output. If a large crawl stops before it finishes — because it hit `maxItems`, your spend cap (`maxTotalChargeUsd`), or was aborted — start a new run with **the same input** plus that `resumeCursor` to continue from where it left off. The crawl resumes from the queued work the previous run didn't reach.

- You are **not re-charged** for records the earlier run already delivered.
- Resume within your account's run-retention window — on the free tier, roughly your 10 most recent runs. Once the source run is pruned, its `resumeCursor` is no longer valid.
- `resumeCursor` is opaque — supply it unmodified.

***

### Legacy.com Obituary & Death Notice Scraper Output Fields

```json
{
  "obituary_id": 212122545,
  "schema2020_obituary_id": 62286594,
  "full_name": "Jean Helen (Paul) Burnett",
  "first_name": "Jean",
  "middle_name": "Helen",
  "last_name": "(Paul) Burnett",
  "maiden_name": null,
  "nickname": null,
  "name_prefix": null,
  "name_suffix": null,
  "obituary_type": "legacy notice",
  "date_of_birth": null,
  "date_of_death": null,
  "age_at_death": 88,
  "published_date": "2026-08-27T00:00:00",
  "city": "Greenwood",
  "state": "SC",
  "country": "US",
  "newspaper_name": "Index-Journal, The",
  "newspaper_site": "indexjournal",
  "affiliate_type": "Newspaper",
  "funeral_home_name": "Richie Funeral Home Inc",
  "funeral_home_url": "https://www.richiefuneralhome.com/",
  "funeral_home_id": 23163,
  "obituary_text": "Jean Helen (Paul) Burnett...",
  "obituary_url": "https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/indexjournal/name/jean-burnett-obituary?id=62286594",
  "photo_url": "https://cache.legacy.net/legacy/images/.../photo.jpgx",
  "guestbook_entry_count": 3,
  "service_details": null,
  "query_keyword": "smith",
  "scraped_at": "2026-09-20T17:37:45.767Z"
}
```

| Field                     | Type    | Description |
|---------------------------|---------|-------------|
| `obituary_id`             | integer | Legacy.com's internal obituary id |
| `schema2020_obituary_id`  | integer | Legacy.com's secondary/legacy obituary id |
| `full_name`               | string  | Decedent's full name as published |
| `first_name`              | string  | First name |
| `middle_name`             | string  | Middle name |
| `last_name`               | string  | Last name |
| `maiden_name`             | string  | Maiden name, when published |
| `nickname`                | string  | Nickname, when published |
| `name_prefix`             | string  | Name prefix (e.g. Rev., Dr.) |
| `name_suffix`             | string  | Name suffix (e.g. Jr., III) |
| `obituary_type`           | string  | Notice type, e.g. "legacy notice" or "death notice" |
| `date_of_birth`           | string  | Date of birth, when the source publishes an exact date (sparse) |
| `date_of_death`           | string  | Date of death, when the source publishes an exact date (sparse) |
| `age_at_death`            | integer | Age at death |
| `published_date`          | string  | When the notice was posted, ISO 8601 |
| `city`                    | string  | City associated with the notice |
| `state`                   | string  | State/province associated with the notice |
| `country`                 | string  | Country the notice was published in |
| `newspaper_name`          | string  | Publishing newspaper or funeral-home outlet's display name |
| `newspaper_site`          | string  | Publishing outlet's Legacy.com site slug |
| `affiliate_type`          | string  | Outlet type, e.g. Newspaper or Funeral Home Publisher |
| `funeral_home_name`       | string  | Funeral home name, when the notice is funeral-home published |
| `funeral_home_url`        | string  | Funeral home's own website, when published |
| `funeral_home_id`         | integer | Legacy.com's internal funeral home id |
| `obituary_text`           | string  | Obituary text — full text when `includeFullText` is on, otherwise a preview |
| `obituary_url`            | string  | Link to the full notice |
| `photo_url`               | string  | Decedent photo URL, when published |
| `guestbook_entry_count`   | integer | Number of guestbook/condolence entries posted |
| `service_details`         | string  | Visitation/service details pulled from the full text, when available (only populated with `includeFullText` on) |
| `query_keyword`           | string  | The keyword or outlet slug this record was found under, or `(recent)` for the default feed |
| `scraped_at`              | string  | ISO-8601 timestamp when this record was scraped |

***

### FAQ

#### How do I search Legacy.com obituaries?

Pass one or more names or search terms in `keywords`. Each is looked up independently and every matching obituary comes back as a structured row.

#### Can I get obituaries from a specific newspaper or funeral home?

Yes. Pass its site slug in `affiliateSites` — find it in that outlet's own listing page URL, `legacy.com/us/obituaries/<slug>/browse`.

#### What if I don't pass any keywords?

You get Legacy.com's own most-recently-posted feed, across every newspaper and funeral home on the network — the highest-value slice for anyone tracking recent deaths.

#### How much does this cost to run?

You're charged per obituary record returned. Turning on `includeFullText` adds one extra request per record for the full text and exact dates — leave it off if the preview text and listing fields are enough.

#### Do I need an account or API key?

No. This scraper runs without any Legacy.com account, login, or API key.

***

### Need More Features?

Need custom fields, filters, or a different target site? [File an issue](https://console.apify.com/actors/issues) or get in touch.

### Why Use Legacy.com Obituary & Death Notice Scraper?

- **Structured, not scraped-and-guessed** — split name parts, newspaper affiliate, and funeral home name + website all come back as first-class fields
- **No account required** — run it cold, no Legacy.com login to manage
- **Flexible entry points** — search by name, browse an outlet, or just take the latest feed

# Actor input Schema

## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`):

What will this data feed? E.g. lead lists, KYB checks, price tracking.

## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`):

Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements.

## `sp_contact` (type: `string`):

We'll personally help with your use case. No spam.

## `resumeCursor` (type: `string`):

Leave empty for a fresh crawl. To CONTINUE a previous run where it stopped — without paying again for records you already received — paste the `resumeCursor` value from that run's Output (the run's OUTPUT key). Resume promptly: the previous run's data expires with your account's retention window (free tier: your ~10 most recent runs).

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Search terms to look up (a name, surname, or other free text). Each keyword is looked up independently. Leave empty to fetch the most recently posted obituaries across every newspaper instead.

## `affiliateSites` (type: `array`):

Browse a specific outlet directly by its site slug (the segment after legacy.com/us/obituaries/ in that outlet's own listing page, e.g. "nytimes"). Combine with keywords or use on its own.

## `includeFullText` (type: `boolean`):

Also open each obituary's own page for its full text and, when the source provides them, exact birth/death dates. Uses one extra request per record — leave off for large runs.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of obituary records to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
  "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
  "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
  "includeFullText": false,
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
    "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
    "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
    "maxItems": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/legacy-com-obituary-death-notice-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
    "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
    "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
    "maxItems": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/legacy-com-obituary-death-notice-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
  "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
  "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
  "maxItems": 20
}' |
apify call jungle_synthesizer/legacy-com-obituary-death-notice-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,jungle_synthesizer/legacy-com-obituary-death-notice-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/qE05uiGeUnuJBopFC/builds/7556t8swQcXd41RJX/openapi.json