Early in August, I phoned San Diego county to order my own BC. I didn't fill any form out, & as I recall, they only as my mother's maiden name as an identifier. The cert arrived in about a week. Hey, who doesn't know that? Mostly aren't we getting BC's for info like where the parents were from? Of course for someone born 100 or so years back, they might be skeptical you are that person. But, as I recall, one of the alternatives is an executor. I'm my mother's executor, mom was executor for g'ma, a great aunt, & a great aunt. & g'ma was executor for her husband. & the aunts would have been executors for their husbands. So I guess I'd be covered for a few people. Phil [email protected] . -----Original Message----- From: Mary Inglis Sims [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 9:27 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Calif. birth & death certificates & the new law The quickest way to obtain certificates is to go in person to the County Recorder in the county where the event occurred or the California State Office of Vital Records in Sacramento. ********************************** The new California law about birth and death certificates requires a special form be completed. If directly related, you must verify your relationship and sign that form in the presence of personnel at the offices. If not directly related, you sign in a different place on that same required form and the certificate you receive will have stamped faintly in the background, the words: INFORMATIONAL - NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY. This certificate is exactly the same except for these words which do not block out any of the information. For genealogists, the Informational certificate presents no problems. Mary Inglis Sims California Genealogical Research Sacramento, California ==== SOCAL Mailing List ==== Contact Yvonne Bowers, Listmom <[email protected]> --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.460 / Virus Database: 304 - Release Date: 8/4/03 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.512 / Virus Database: 309 - Release Date: 8/19/03