Birth Certificates - How Many?

[Lydia_R]

I'm starting the process of getting my birth certificate changed.  In 2 months or so, I will be working for a new company and would like them to use my new name and gender so my dead name doesn't propagate to more computer systems, so I'm getting a little impatient.

 

Oregon has a 5 year old law that provides for a quick turn around gender and name change (2 weeks).  The form is simple enough and I could submit it today.  Part of what is needed is sending them my old birth certificate in the package.  I only have one copy of my old birth certificate and I'm hesitant to send in my only copy.  So 3 weeks ago, I requested 4 copies of my old birth certificate.  They said the turn around would just be a couple days on that, but it just drags on and trying to get them on the phone is a dead end.

 

The bigger question I have here is about how many copies of my new and old birth certificate do I need?  Are the old birth certificates useful at all?  How many copies of my new birth certificate will I need?  My banking situation is about as simple as it could be (for someone who owns a home), but I did come up with a list of 11 entities that will need to be notified of my name change.  How many of them will demand to keep a copy of my birth certificate?  None?  Two?  All 11?  My gut feeling is to error on the side of caution and order 6 or 7 so I can avoid dealing with them again.  Is that way overkill though?

[Carolyn Marie]

I didn't change mind, partly b/c I didn't think I would need it.  People want to see your SS card and your legal name change docs.  No one has ever asked me for my birth cert.  On the name change docs, have at least 3-4 certified originals, maybe more.  Many institutions and govt. entities want an original cert.

 

Carolyn Marie

[KathyLauren]

Legally, a certified copy is as good as an original.  For some stuff, I just went to a lawyer's office with my original and a photocopy and had them certify it.  It worked for everything so far.

 

But I did get three originals of my birth certificate.  I'll have to send one away for my Irish passport application and I don't trust them to send it back (though they're supposed to).  So it is nice to have a backup original.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

For a lot of purposes in the USA, photocopies are used instead of sealed originals from the state.  Sometimes you can have a color photocopy made, and then notarized at a bank.  I changed my last name when I joined my husband's family (it wasn't a legally binding marriage, so the process wasn't as straight forward.)

 

Keep a bunch of copies of your court papers, make photocopies of your updated social security card, and if birth certificate copies are cheap and easy to get, you can't go wrong with getting a bunch of them.  Make sure to have at least one copy permanently in a fireproof box or safe deposit box, another copy stored with a friend or relative, and a "working" copy for presenting to employers and financial institutions.  And of course, images of all these documents stored on an SD card or a flash drive, wrapped in aluminum foil and stored someplace safe.  

 

 

[Charlize]

I only got one copy of my birth certificate but quite a few certified copies of my name change.  As you mentioned many folks need the legal name change for legal reasons.  I have only needed my birth certificate for a new passport.  IK might have to haul it out for the new super drivers license but Covid cancelled that for some time.

If the cost is high one or two copies of a birth certificate should be enough.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Lydia_R]

Thank you everyone!  Sharing your experience helped me decide.  I wound up getting 4 birth certificates.  I only had one of my old one.  I submitted my application and they took my money, so it's just a waiting game now.

 

Hugs,

Lydia

[Lydia_R]

My name change is final now.  This administrative name change in Oregon took 2 months.  I waited a little over a month to get my new birth certificate.  Then I got a new driver's license.  If I had went to Social Security before getting a license, then I could have gotten both of those on the same day.  But it turns out that I didn't even go to the correct Social Security office.  Apparently you have to go to the one in your county.  They also needed a picture ID with my birth date on it that was not a temporary driver's license.

 

So it took about a week to get my driver's license in the mail.  Then I was able to finish up at Social Security.  The bank didn't care about my Social Security card; all they needed was my physical driver's license.  They gave me new bank cards right away.  My mortgage company seemed to be satisfied with just uploading documents online.  It took 5 days to get my Social Security card in the mail.  The company I work for needed that to update my legal name in their system.

 

Waiting was a little frustrating, but not too bad.  All in all, this went better than expected.  Getting the extra birth certificates was a waste in my situation.

 

Hugs, not bugs!

Lydia

[Charlize]

That sounds great dear!   Hope they got a great picture of your smiling face on your drivers license.  I couldn't help but smile when i had my picture taken!

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Ivy]

4 hours ago, Charlize said:

Hope they got a great picture of your smiling face on your drivers license.  I couldn't help but smile when i had my picture taken!

I wish….    They made me take the picture without my largely bald head covered… sigh.

 

For name change (NC) once I got the paperwork together I had to post it at the courthouse for 10 days.  After that I got the court order the same day, while I waited.

 

Since it was in another state (NY) I sent off for a corrected birth certificate.  However there is an incredible backlog.  I seriously doubt that I'll even get it before next year.  But in NC I was able to change the marker on my DL with a short form signed by my VA therapist.  SS actually lets you self-attest (?) for gender with them.  It's not on the card anyway - although I've heard there is something in the number, and that doesn't change.

[Ivy]

@Hannah ReneeI sure hope you are right.