{"id":503774,"date":"2026-02-27T20:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/503774\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T20:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:37:15","slug":"ai-is-rewriting-obituaries-heres-how-to-protect-yourself-and-loved-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/503774\/","title":{"rendered":"AI is rewriting obituaries. Here\u2019s how to protect yourself and loved ones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Obituary pirates\u2019 copy and rewrite obituaries, adding to the pain and stress for grieving families.AsiaVision\/iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Oh, hi again. Today, we are diving into how \u201cobituary pirates\u201d are adding more pain for those in grief. <\/p>\n

But before getting into that, here\u2019s your last reminder that the RRSP deadline is March 2. Don\u2019t dilly-dally!<\/p>\n

Obituaries are being rewritten by AI <\/p>\n

Imagine this: Someone you love has just died, and you sit down to write their obituary. It\u2019s posted on the funeral home\u2019s website or in your local paper.<\/p>\n

Then, you discover another website has copied it. Not only that \u2013 it\u2019s been rewritten with errors. And the site is asking people for donations.<\/p>\n

This is happening to families across Canada. I spoke with two families who went through it while they were still grieving.<\/p>\n

Kathryn Van Ameyde\u2019s father died last October. She wrote his obituary and had it posted on the funeral home\u2019s website. Within hours, Ms. Van Ameyde, who is based in Winnipeg, found it copied onto another site. It had mistakes, and it was collecting donations.<\/p>\n

Anne Marie Aikins\u2019s family in Ontario went through something similar. Her nephew recently died in a tobogganing accident. Minutes after the funeral home posted details about the service, another website had scraped the information and reposted it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s become common enough that the Funeral Service Association of Canada issued an advisory last year warning families and funeral homes about the practice. The group says some websites copy the opening lines of obituaries and use AI tools to rewrite them, sometimes spreading inaccurate information in the process.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t new. In 2019, the Federal Court of Canada ruled against a website called Afterlife Network, awarding $20-million in damages for reproducing obituaries and photos from funeral homes and newspapers without permission.<\/p>\n

So, what can families do? One option is not posting an obituary online at all. But for many people, that\u2019s not realistic. Obituaries help share funeral details, honour someone\u2019s life and create a lasting record for family and friends.<\/p>\n

There are, however, steps you and your funeral home can take:<\/p>\n

If you see an obituary reposted without consent, contact the website and request that it be taken down. Many sites will remove content if asked. It\u2019s also a good idea to set up Google Alerts for your loved one\u2019s name so you\u2019re notified if it appears elsewhere online.<\/p>\n

You can work with your funeral home when you get an obituary posted. You can ask them to:<\/p>\n

Clearly label the official obituary, and state that other versions may be unauthorized copies.Make sure their website includes clear terms of use and copyright language.Encourage them to track and document cases where obituaries are copied.<\/p>\n

For families already dealing with loss, this can feel like an extra blow. But knowing what to look for, and what steps to take, can help prevent further harm.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the Retire Rich newsletter<\/p>\n

Are you reading this newsletter on the web or did someone forward the e-mail version to you? If so, you can sign up for Retire Rich here<\/a>.The Calculator <\/p>\n

Privatizations of Canadian public companies jumped again in 2025<\/a>, with 38 firms delisting from the Toronto Stock Exchange, including 15 that were taken private. That\u2019s nearly double the typical annual pace and comes amid a longer-term decline in the number of publicly listed companies, even as the total market value of those that remain continues to grow.<\/p>\n

Why? The trend is partly driven by the amount of money private investors have available to spend (known as \u201cdry powder<\/a>\u201d) has recently started to drop from record highs as more of that cash is getting spent.<\/p>\n

The Retirement Receipt Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

JASON FRANSON\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

After a mid-career layoff, is Celina, 50, better off taking her pension in cash?<\/a><\/p>\n

The situation: Celina, 50, and her husband Hector, 60, were laid off within months of each other after decades with their employers. They own a mortgage-free home, have three adult children, and are planning to sell a vacation condo. Now, Celina has to decide whether to take her defined benefit pension as a future monthly payment or as a lump sum she can invest today.<\/p>\n

The numbers: The couple will rely on severance in the short term, along with Hector\u2019s partly indexed $68,000 annual pension. They also have defined contribution pensions and a growing non-registered portfolio expected to reach about $2-million by 2027. Their retirement spending target is $155,000 a year after tax, and they hope to eventually gift each child $50,000 to $100,000 toward a first home.<\/p>\n

The advice from a financial planner: Because Celina\u2019s pension isn\u2019t indexed to inflation, taking the lump sum and investing it may offer more flexibility and allow any remaining value to pass to Hector or their estate. In the meantime, topping up their TFSAs and using tax-efficient withdrawal strategies could help smooth income in retirement and preserve government benefits like CPP and OAS.<\/p>\n

Best of the Rest <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf34 Canada\u2019s snowbirds are facing fewer sure bets for winter.<\/a> Violence in Puerto Vallarta, fuel shortages in Cuba and continuing Canada\u2013U.S. tensions are shaking confidence in long-time sun destinations. While many retirees say they still plan to stay put, recent unrest is a reminder that even popular winter havens aren\u2019t immune to political and economic instability.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfe0 Leaving the family home to your kids may not be the best way to help them buy one.<\/a> Planners say tying up wealth in your home, or hanging onto it for decades, can strain your own retirement. Instead, options like downsizing or borrowing against home equity could offer more flexible support when your kids actually need it, without sacrificing your long-term financial security.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc75 How to live with aging parents.<\/a> As Canada\u2019s population gets older and care costs rise, multigenerational living is becoming more common. Experts say clear boundaries, early conversations about expectations, and a backup plan for changing care needs can help avoid tension and make shared living more supportive for everyone involved.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc76 A lower-income year could be the best time to contribute to an RRSP.<\/a> When one spouse earns less than usual, an RRSP contribution may not only reduce your taxes, but also increase your Canada Child Benefit by lowering your adjusted family income and easing the clawback. The result: a bigger combined benefit per dollar contributed than in a typical dual-income year.<\/p>\n

Try This <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcbc What should you do with all that stuff?<\/a> Many adult kids are still using their parents\u2019 home as storage space. I joined Ontario Today to talk about housing costs, delayed milestones, the blurry line between moving out and really leaving \u2013 and what families can do about it. Give the interview a listen and check out my recent story on this topic<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: \u2018Obituary pirates\u2019 copy and rewrite obituaries, adding to the pain and stress for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,6252,61],"class_list":["post-503774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-retirementnewsletter","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}