Why should you care when your grandfather died when what you really want to know is who your great-grandparents are? Death records — including death certificates, tombstone inscriptions, obituaries, and funeral home records — all provide important clues to an individual's past. Your grandfather's death certificate may list the maiden name of his mother, a significant little tidbit that living family members no longer recall. His obituary may mention a surviving sister, the great-aunt that you never knew existed. His tombstone may tell you that he was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Records from the funeral home may indicate his exact date of birth.

A second, but equally important, reason for beginning a search with death records is that they are among the most easily accessible records. The fact that the individual is deceased makes privacy less of a concern. Now all of this is not to say that you should always begin a genealogy search with death records. There's nothing wrong with beginning with your grand-parents' marriage record, or their enumeration in the 1930 U.S. census. But once you've gathered as much information as you can from family members, death records generally make sense as the next good place to take your family history quest.