Do you have to have one?
No should you have one? Probably. It is very helpful when people have an obituary. What medium you use for the obituary is the question.
Most funeral homes will put a free obituary online for you. In a day in age when newspapers are not used as often and people use online more and more this is a great option. You might want to put a notice in the paper and mention the funeral home in this day in age most people will look up on line the details that way.
It is also helpful in the long term if you put an obituary online at the funeral home as if someone is looking for you they can find your information.
As a preplanner I often can discover valuable information for clients via the web and obituaries of deceased family members. There are lots of good reasons to have an obituary and a few for not having one.