Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) The State Registrar shall endorse on the
record or certificate the following additions and/or minor corrections made
within one year after the date of occurrence without the certificate being
considered amended. Additions or minor corrections shall be made unless the
change affects the integrity of the record (for example, a contradiction to
existing documentation such as a hospital medical record). For purposes of this
Section, singular terms should be read to include the plural and vice versa,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
1) Minor Birth Corrections include, but are
not limited to:
A) Additions and/or changes
of given names of the registered person;
B) Changes in the time of birth, if it does
not change date of occurrence;
C)
Changes in the sex designation of the registered person within one year after
the date of birth, if justified by the given name or based on the newborn
delivery records from the hospital;
D) Spelling errors or omissions of the
parents' first or middle name;
E)
Parents' ages, if within two years of the age shown;
F) Parents' places of birth, if the country
is not different;
G) Mother's
residence and/or mailing address at the time of occurrence; or
H) Spelling errors in the registered person's
and/or parent's surname, if verified by a signature.
2) Minor Death Corrections include, but are
not limited to:
A) Addition and/or changes of
given names of the decedent;
B)
Changes in the sex designation of the decedent, if justified by the given names
or if supported by a notarized statement of a licensed physician;
C) Changes in ethnicity;
D) Changes in either the age or birth date of
the decedent (not both);
E)
Decedent's place of birth, if not a different country;
F) Spelling errors or omission of the given
or middle names of the marital spouse;
G) Additions or changes in the social
security number;
H) Additions or
changes in occupation/industry;
I)
Additions or changes in obvious errors of dates of service;
J) Decedent's resident address;
K) Spelling errors or omissions of the
parents' first or middle names;
L)
Relationship and/or mailing address of informant;
M) Date physician attended
deceased;
N) Notification of
coroner or medical examiner; or
O)
Changes in hour of death, if date of death is not affected.
b) When such additions
or minor corrections are made by the State Registrar, a notation as to the
source of information, together with the date the change was made, and the
initials of the authorized agent making the change, shall be made in the margin
of the record in such a way as not to become a part of the certifiable
record.
c) The State Registrar
shall retain for six years, either in the original or microphotographic form,
all source documents used as the basis for additions or minor corrections. The
State Registrar shall also furnish a copy of the amended certificate or record
to the custodian of any permanent local records, and the records shall be
corrected accordingly.
d) Once an
item on the record or certificate has been corrected as a minor correction, all
future amendments made to the same item shall be completed in accordance with
the major correction guidelines.
e)
The State Registrar reserves the right to require proof to amend the record or
certificate when the requested correction compromises the integrity of the
vital record.
f) Certificates filed
pursuant to the Act, including those filed at the time of occurrence or shortly
thereafter, "delayed" certificates filed under Sections 14 and 19 of the Act,
and "new" certificates filed under Section 17 of the Act shall be corrected or
amended in accordance with this Section.
1) A
request for a major administrative correction of a certificate filed on or
after January 1, 1916 shall be made to the State Registrar. A request for a
major administrative correction of a certificate filed prior to that date shall
be made to the county clerk of the county in which the birth, death or fetal
death occurred. The request shall identify the certificate to be corrected by
stating whether it is a birth, death or fetal death record. In addition, the
name of the registered person, the date and place of the event, the items that
are omitted or in error, and the correct information for those items shall also
be submitted.
2) After consulting
the certificate in the files, the county clerk may initiate the correction form
and send it to the applicant with instructions regarding who should sign and
what documentary proof, if any, is required to support the correction
sought.
3) The persons who shall
sign the correction form in the indicated order of priority are:
A) To correct birth certificates: the mother
or father of the registered person, if the registered person is a minor; the
registered person, if the person is of legal age; other next of kin or legal
guardian; authorized official of a hospital, if the hospital record was the
source of the personal particulars.
B) To correct death or fetal death
certificates: the signators of the original certificate, i.e., the informant,
physician, coroner/medical examiner, funeral director, decedent's spouse,
mother, father, or other next of kin.
i) The
medical certification of death can be amended by the certifying physician, or
the attending physician who was in charge of the patient's care for the illness
or condition that resulted in death.
ii) (Exception: A correction to a Medical
Examiner's/Coroner's Certificate of Death within one year after the initial
registration of the death shall be accomplished by the Medical Examiner or
Coroner filing an "Amended Certificate of Death.")
g) Each copy of the
correction form shall be individually signed. The affiants should sign their
given names and present legal surnames and fill in the present complete
address. The correction forms shall be signed in the presence of a person
authorized to administer oaths, who shall date the form, sign in ink, affix his
or her seal or stamp, and enter the complete address.
1) Records created at or nearest following
the date of birth provide the best proof to correct the child's given name or
date of birth. Records created prior to the birth of the child are required to
correct the given names of the parents, surname of the child and/or father, or
mother's maiden name, color or race of parents, or age and birthplace of
parents. Records created at or nearest following the decedent's birth provide
the best proof to correct name, age, birth date, and birthplace. However, if
such proof is not available, records created later in life may be
accepted.
2) To correct color or
race on a death record, the best evidence is the decedent's birth or marriage
record or birth certificate of a child of the decedent. To correct marital
status, the best evidence is the decedent's marriage record, spouse's death
record, or divorce decree, if any, or other court records. To correct a fetal
death record, information on documents required for similar items on live birth
and death certificates shall be furnished.
3) To correct other items on a certificate,
such documentary evidence shall be required as is deemed necessary to preserve
the integrity of the certificate. More than one document may be required in
some instances. Some corrections may not require documentary proof, depending
on the nature of the correction and the identity of the affiant in relation to
the registrant. The burden of submitting proof is on the applicant. The State
Registrar shall make the final determination of whether the document submitted
satisfactorily proves the correction sought. Any documents submitted, whether
accepted or rejected as proof, shall be returned to the applicant, or his or
her representative. Examples of available documents that substantiate facts
are:
A) Baptismal or confirmation
records;
B) Cradle roll
certificates;
C)
1st grade school records;
D) Applicant's marriage record;
E) Military records;
F) Social security records;
G) Child's birth record;
H) Parents' marriage record;
I) Parent's birth record(s);
J) Immunization or clinic records;
K) Insurance policies;
L) Parent's Naturalization
certificate;
M) Census records;
or
N) Other documents as deemed
appropriate.
h) The original certificate of birth, death,
or fetal death shall have the correction entered on its face by inter-lineation
through the incorrect entries. The correct information is then typed or written
above or near the incorrect information. A statement to the effect that the
certificate has been amended, and the date, shall appear on the face of the
certificate.
1) The Department shall
permanently retain the original of the correction form, either as an original
record or in microphotographic form. An approved copy of the correction form,
or an official copy of the certificate as corrected, shall be sent to the
county clerk and local registrar, as their authority to correct their file
copies of the certificate.
2) The
applicant shall be notified that the correction has been approved and
made.
3) Certifications or
certified copies of the certificates as corrected will be furnished upon the
written request of an eligible applicant as provided in Section 25 of the Act.
If the applicant desires certified copies that do not show the previous entries
regarding the items that were corrected, the applicant should request a short
form certification; however, a statement to the effect that the certificate had
been amended, and the date amended, shall appear on the certified
copy.
i) A correction
form is not required to amend the surname on a birth certificate when the
person has obtained a legal change of name from a court of competent
jurisdiction. Legal name changes shall be reflected on a birth certificate if
supported by a certified copy of the court decree. The new names will be
entered on the original certificate in the files of the State Registrar by
inter-lineation. The certificate shall be marked as having been amended and the
decree number and the effective date entered. The State Registrar shall send
the county clerk and local registrar official copies of the original
certificate, as amended, to replace the copies in their files. Thereafter, any
certifications or certified copies issued shall indicate that the certificate
has been changed and the date of the amendment.
1) The addition of the father's identity on
the child's birth certificate, at the request of the birth father and mother,
does not permit the changing of the child's surname to that of the
father.
2) Name Change Based on
Naturalization
A) The name of the informant
(if parent), the name of the child and the name of the mother and/or father may
be amended on the child's birth certificate, based upon a change of name
granted to the parents by a naturalization court or other court of competent
jurisdiction. This applies only if the name change was granted while the child
was a minor.
B) If the child is of
legal age at the time of his/her parents' naturalization, the Division of Vital
Records is authorized to amend only the informant's name (if parent) and/or the
parents' names on the child's certificate of birth.
j) The State Registrar shall amend
a delayed birth registration established by court order under the provisions of
Section 15 of the Act only upon the basis of an order from the court that
originally established the facts of birth. The procedure followed in amending
the certificate and issuing copies is as described in subsection (i) regarding
legal name changes.
k) To change
the given name of a child on a new birth certificate filed under Section 17 of
the Vital Records Act (if the applicant has knowledge of the adoption), a
certified copy of an amended Adoption decree or an amended Certificate of
Adoption will be required as proof.
l) A voluntary change of name, spelling of
the given names or surname, or the order of the given names and/or surname as
those names appear on the birth record shall not be reflected upon the birth
record unless a request for the "correction" is accompanied by an appropriate
court order.
m) When a request for
a correction constitutes change in identity of the registrant or the father or
mother, a court determination is required to reflect the change on the birth
record.
n) The State Registrar
shall not, at the request of any person, change a written signature on a record
under the correction provisions. Such a change shall be reflected on the
certificate only with a court determination.
o) The State Registrar shall not, at the
request of any person, change a file date on a certificate; therefore, the
integrity of the record is protected.
p) Provisions for the addition of the birth
father's name and information to records:
1)
When the parents are not married:
A) Both
parents shall sign the major correction forms;
B) A court order is needed to change the
child's surname; and
C) If either
parent is deceased, a court determination shall be required to add the father's
name and information to the record.
2) When parents are married at the time of
the child's birth:
A) Both parents shall sign
the major correction forms (the State Registrar will accept a certified copy of
the divorce decree or death record and obituary notice in lieu of either
parent's signature);
B) A court
order is needed to change the child's surname;
C) The married name shall be added to the end
of mother's name (if the mother is shown as an informant on record);
D) Legitimacy status shall be changed on the
record.