> That's precisely what we were doing Richard. They didn't ask him all those > questions though. Interestingly, the last time we did this the bank did it > without any help from us. I'm curious - were you trying to do this on line (I was.) or in person. Wonder if the SSA is tightening up re banks doing it? I lost the letter with the "secret code" in it and was thinking of just going by the bank and asking them to handle it for me. Hmmm. > They are asking why you want the death certificate too but if you say > genealogy they don't ask more. Are you saying you cannot get a copy of a birth certificate for genealogical purposes (see my points below)? > Finally, it is not legislators who are worried about identity theft as much > as the Patriot Act and other responses to 9/11 that is causing this last > round of tightening up. I see no use terrorists can make of death > certificates, probate files, etc. I don't suppose they want to pose as a 60 > year old man or woman either. I don't want to be a 60 year either but I > suppose that will happen regardless. Actually the legislators were falling all over each other in the rush to be more "patriotic" that the other guys, especially just before the election last November. I expect that some jurisdictions - who consider genealogists a pest anyway - will use the Intelligence Reform Act (or what ever they called it) to deny any kind of information to researchers. However, what the genealogical societies were told is that they could continue to get photo copies of birth records for informational purposes, but the law requires the federal and state governments to insist up a CERTIFIED COPY of the birth certificate in order for someone to get a passport, driver's license, etc., and certified copies could only be issued to the person himself or herself or a parent or guardian. That, supposedly, is intended to make uncertified photocopies as worthless as, well, a death certificate for a terrorist. Enough. I don;t know why I'm worried - I got the birth records that I needed for my own family 30 years ago. If you have any additional thoughts, I'd be glad to hear them - but I think I've overstated my case already! Richard