# Death Event without Date **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [August 20, 2025, 7:56am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207 "2025-08-20T07:56:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joerg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@Joerg](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/Joerg)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 7:56am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/1 "2025-08-20T07:56:50Z")
I am using GrampsAIO64 6.0.3 with Windows 11. When I have a person with a birth event and the birth was a long time ago, I have entered a death event without a date. This procedure worked in the last versions. In version 6.0.3, when I check the data, I now get the message “Invalid death date.” For an empty death event, the following data was generated in the old version (5.2.4) ‘’’ Source Death ‘’’ Source In the new version (6.0.3), the following data is generated: '‘’ Source Death ‘’’ Source Is this an error or am I doing something wrong? Translated with [DeepL.com](http://DeepL.com) (free version) ---
**Author:** ![Joerg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@Joerg](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/Joerg)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 10:33am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/2 "2025-08-20T10:33:06Z")
I can see that the information in the source is not displayed correctly. The entries in the new version have a VAL=“” entry, whereas the old version does not. ---
**Author:** ![DaveSch](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/davesch/32/40_2.png) [@DaveSch](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/DaveSch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 11:29am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/3 "2025-08-20T11:29:24Z")
Welcome! In Gramps, it is not necessary to add an empty Death event to signify a person has died. There is a setting on the [Preferences Limits](https://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Gramps_6.0_Wiki_Manual_-_Settings#Limits) tab: **Maximum age probably alive:** Default: `110`. Without a known death event, Gramps will assume the person has died 110 years after their birth year. You can alter this setting. ---
**Author:** ![hartenthaler](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/hartenthaler/32/3404_2.png) [@hartenthaler](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/hartenthaler)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/4 "2025-08-20T14:52:01Z")
It is not necessary but it should be possible. ---
**Author:** ![DaveSch](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/davesch/32/40_2.png) [@DaveSch](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/DaveSch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/5 "2025-08-20T15:34:24Z")
And users can enter a non-dated death record. Verify data will highlight either invalid events with no date, or an extremely old person with no death record. There is a difference between Gramps having an understanding that a person is probably deceased for reports, etc. Verify data is for the user’s use to highlight issues within the data and may need more work. ---
**Author:** ![Joerg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@Joerg](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/Joerg)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/6 "2025-08-20T16:40:48Z")
If I remove the disputed death event, there is no longer any dispute and the exported GEDCOM file does not contain a death event, as expected. How can I create a death event “1 DEAT Y” in GEDCOM, preferably without any disputes when checking the data, as it worked in the old versions? ---
**Author:** ![codefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@codefarmer](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/codefarmer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/7 "2025-08-20T21:09:09Z")
@Nick-Hall Is this issue related to a comment you made in a recent bux fix PR that “we should update the Check and Repair tool to fix any date field containing `None`?” Not necessarily the repair tool, but handling of dates containing None? ---
**Author:** ![GeorgeWilmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@GeorgeWilmes](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/GeorgeWilmes)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/8 "2025-08-20T21:39:23Z")
> [@hartenthaler](#): > > it should be possible. I agree. I recently started doing this, but have not yet upgraded to 6.0, so I hope it will continue to work. > [@DaveSch](#): > > Gramps will assume the person has died 110 years after their birth year. You can alter this setting. Yes, if they have a birth date (or if some other logic catches them). I had many people that fell through the cracks as being “probably alive” even though they were from many generations ago, so I started entering undated Death events for them. ---
**Author:** ![hartenthaler](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/hartenthaler/32/3404_2.png) [@hartenthaler](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/hartenthaler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 4:46am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/9 "2025-08-21T04:46:57Z")
Regarding GEDCOM: if there is no date (DATE), and no place (PLAC) , and no source (SOUR) known, you should use „1 DEAT Y“, otherwise „1 DEAT“. In GEDCOM 7 there is now the „NO“ event; if you know for sure that a very old person is still alive at a specific date, you can specify that using the „NO“ event. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/gramps/original/1X/2ac1e712b7adf612e31ca08a55419f4cf37c0158.png) [@system](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 4:47am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/death-event-without-date/8207/10 "2025-09-20T04:47:40Z")
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