this is crazy. The info on my mom's 1986 death cert is wrong.

[Grasswire2]

I just got a certified copy from the state.

The date of her birth is wrong, and her middle name is completely wrong -- no connection whatsoever!

Is this considered a lawful document that I can use, with these mistakes????

Just nuts.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. No, you have to correct it.

Go in with her birth certificate or her passport, and you should be fine.

[Grasswire2]

4. she's been dead for decades. I don't have a passport for her.

I don't have any identification of hers.

I could order a birth cert. This death one cost $60. I'm a little ticked that my brother and sister who were handling all the matters didn't notice that the info is wrong at the time of her death.

[madaboutharry]

2. Agree, it needs to be corrected.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Are you sure it is your mother's death certificate?

Could they have given you the death cert for someone else?

I have done quite a bit of genealogy document research, and when I get more than one mistake on a document, I double check to make sure I have the correct document for the correct person.

On a death cert of an older person, it is not unusual for the birth date to be off somewhat.
But a big gap may indicate you have the wrong death document.

The incorrect middle name is not a common mistake.

[Grasswire2]

5. It is hers.

Everything else is correct.

Her birth month is stated as August when it should be May.

And the middle name is Arlene when it should be Louise.

My brother was the "informant" stated. I've sent him a note asking if he ever realized the info was wrong.

[Irish_Dem]

6. Death cert info is typically incorrect because the informant didn't know

the correct info.

Birth certificates are almost always correct.
So are marriage.

But death certs often contain wrong info because the children or grandchildren have no idea what their parent's birthdate and location happened to be, or maiden name of mother, etc.

[Grasswire2]

7. My brother.

Argggh.

But I wonder how certain things were settled regarding the estate with a flawed death cert.

Just looked --- "federal death index" info is wrong as well, but the Social Security Index has the correct info.

[Irish_Dem]

9. These mistakes most likely did not cause problems in estate settlement issues.

The estate attorney just cares about the actual death verification.
They may not even check to see if birth data is correct.

Even if they do check, death certs often have incorrect birth info, or even marriage info.
But usually the address, date of death, reason for death are typically correct.
And that is what the attorney is looking for.

The social security info may be correct because your mother herself filled out those forms
when she applied for social security benefits. And the federal death index just took the information off the death cert your brother filled out.

My brother would probably screw up a death certificate too if it is any consolation.

You can contact the state to see if with proper documentation you can obtain a corrected death certificate.

[Grasswire2]

8. My sister, who is a genealogical hoarder to the nth, would have her birth cert...

...but the chances of seeing it are slim to none. So I guess I will send off to the East Coast for a copy of that. The birth date and middle name will be correct. And then I can take it to the records office to get the death cert corrected.

Thanks all for the help.

[hlthe2b]

10. In researching documents from several family members who died before I was born, I found similar

I'm not sure this is uncommon. But yes, they are lawful documents filed with the state, and to correct it would likely require moving heaven and earth so...

[Grasswire2]

11. that would be fine except for genealogical accuracy.

She is the link between me and my grandfather, who is the link to other members of the line back generation after generation. I cannot prove that link without accurate documentation on her. Her family line was important to her. That's the reason I began the work to document.

[Grasswire2]

12. so here's the resulting action that must be taken

I had to order a new certified copy of her birth certificate from 3,000 miles away.

And now I have to get my brother the informant to fill proper death info out and have notarized an affadavit swearing to the correct information.

Then I send that to the state of her death, and they correct the death record.

But then, after some unknown period of time, I'll have to order another certified death record (correct info) in order to have the true and proper document in my hands.

The lesson. Someone needs to check the death information more than just one informant, within a year of the death.