Death certificate has wrong birth date - worth correcting?

[Lady Florida.]

My father died in 1970. I've had his photo albums and other items for about 20 years, ever since a cousin gave it to me. (Long story about why her family had his stuff for so long, but my parents were separated when he died). I must have never looked closely because last weekend while going through photos with a different cousin, I happened to notice that his birth date is wrong on the death certificate. I know the date we always celebrated is the right one, plus it's correct on his army discharge papers. 

I don't know who would want or need the correct information down the line. There's just my brother and me, though we do have a lot of cousins on that side. My thought is that someday a descendant of either mine, my brother, or one of my uncles (dad's brothers) might be researching family history and that wrong date could throw a wrench in their research.

Is it worth going through the process to have the state correct it? Would you do it if it was your parent even if they had been dead many, many years? 

Edited June 11, 2019 by Lady Florida.

[gardenmom5]

how off is the date?   I've done research, and found dates off by one or two days - including SS# accounts.  it is irritating - as responsible genealogists will do further research to make sure it's the right person, and not someone with the same name.

though, my great-aunt, apparently lied about her age by 10 years. (I have her original birth record from the state in which she was born. that is correct.)  I found a woman with her name married to a particular person.  it even listed her parents as the same city and name of my great-grandparents.  but because her age was off by 10 years, I thought it was just a case of "same names/different person".  when I eventually contacted a cousin on that side, who knew her as a child - she lied about her age.  (she wanted to be a starlit, and married a younger man.  they divorced - but I found records she may have kept his name, even though he proceeded to marry someone else.) ah, the skeletons...

[Hyacinth]

I have little patience for bureaucracy and I'm guessing that trying to fix this would be a deep dive into that unpleasant darkness, so I'd probably attach a post-it note to the document for anyone who happens upon it in the future and call it good.

Edited June 11, 2019 by Hyacinth

[Lawyer&Mom]

Official Records have all kinds of errors.  Let it be.

[Valley Girl]

In the specific situation you mention I probably would not bother. (The post-it note idea is a good one.) But in situations in which there was even a remote chance of needing to prove identity or date of death for investments or something for a surviving spouse or inheritance issues, I'd get it corrected. But I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.

Edited June 11, 2019 by Valley Girl
Typos

[Scarlett]

I would fix it. 

[amyx4]

Do you have a copy of your father's birth certificate? Correcting the death certificate might not be easy.....

FIL lived out of state.  Dh and his sister were in that state when FIL passed.

Dh's step-sister signed "daughter" on the death certificate (and a bunch of other paperwork!)  We needed to correct that because dh's sister (not step-sister) was the person on all of FIL's military paperwork. 

Death certificate person told me I needed a copy of step-sister's birth certificate to correct the mess. In that state only the people on the birth certificate can get a copy of a birth certificate. So, that would be step-sister, her father and her deceased mother (dh's deceased step-mother.)

[amyx4]

I've have lived in a state where anyone can get a copy of my kid's birth certificates because dh and I were married at the time of birth.  However, in that same state, I could not go pick up a copy of my nephew's birth certificate because his parents were unmarried at the time of his birth.

[Pippen]

49 minutes ago, Lawyer&Mom said:

Official Records have all kinds of errors.  Let it be.

I agree. I do a lot of genealogy and know to take records that were filled out by informants with a grain of salt. I also know to verify through multiple sources whenever possible, and in your father's case it's possible through marriage records, military records, etc. 

However, out of curiosity I did check in my state to see what was required to make the correction, and here it looks to be a simple and relatively inexpensive process. A certified copy of the birth certificate is required, copies of ID of the individual making the request, and filling out a request form and having it notarized. Plus a 15 fee.

[Jean in Newcastle]

For this reason, no.  But we had trouble getting my dad's social security etc, for my mom because there was a date error and that was worth spending the time to sort out. 

[73349]

The less common his full name was, the less hassle for the future genealogist even if that date is wrong. "John James Jones," fix if it isn't complicated. "Otis Leland Boysenberry," shouldn't be hard to figure out.

[Lady Florida.]

Thanks everyone. It sounds like I should just let it be. 

 

17 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

how off is the date?   I've done research, and found dates off by one or two days - including SS# accounts.  it is irritating - as responsible genealogists will do further research to make sure it's the right person, and not someone with the same name.

 

It's not that far off and is actually within the same year. His name isn't common afaik, but he was a junior. Still, it should be obvious to anyone searching that the earlier birth year will be the father and the later date the son.

 

16 hours ago, Valley Girl said:

In the specific situation you mention I probably would not bother. (The post-it note idea is a good one.) But in situations in which there was even a remote chance of needing to prove identity or date of death for investments or something for a surviving spouse or inheritance issues, I'd get it corrected. But I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.

All of that is long past. It occurred to me when I read your post though - It apparently didn't cause my mother any trouble when getting his life ins. (left equally to my brother and me) or our SS and VA benefits when we were minors. 

15 hours ago, Pippen said:

I agree. I do a lot of genealogy and know to take records that were filled out by informants with a grain of salt. I also know to verify through multiple sources whenever possible, and in your father's case it's possible through marriage records, military records, etc. 

 

Thanks. The bolded helps. That's the only reason I can think of why it would matter in the future. I haven't done genealogy so it helps to know how those who do it approach things.

I might, out of curiosity, find out the process in Delaware, where he was living when he died, but will probably not pursue it unless it's really easy. I haven't seen his birth certificate anywhere in the papers I have, so it's not likely I can prove it anyway unless they accept the army discharge papers as proof. Although, back then people lied (he didn't) to join the military at a younger age so it might not fly.

[Pippen]

You would need to order a certified copy of his birth certificate from the state he was  born in. If Delaware, it's this form. 

https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/ss/files/birth.pdf

I'm not seeing information about correcting a death certificate, but there are phone numbers for various offices of vital statistics that you could call. 

https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/ss/files/death.pdf

Edited June 12, 2019 by Pippen

[Scarlett]

I agree at this point it is not a must do.  I just couldn’t let it go.  

And the longer these things go on the harder it is to correct.  My former MIL was adopted and did not have a birth certificate. Apparently her adoptive father had one forged for her when she was 18 when it became apparent she was going to need one to get married.  She used that forged copy her entire life for everything.  When she was in her 70s she lost it.  And she was unable to get a delayed birth certificate issued because there were not enough people or institutions left to verify who she was.  So she can’t get a license in another state now.  She has to keep her current one up to date.  She had already filed for her social security thankfully.   

[Lady Florida.]

3 hours ago, Pippen said:

You would need to order a certified copy of his birth certificate from the state he was  born in. If Delaware, it's this form. 

https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/ss/files/birth.pdf

I'm not seeing information about correcting a death certificate, but there are phone numbers for various offices of vital statistics that you could call. 

https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/ss/files/death.pdf

He was born in New Jersey but died while living in Delaware with my uncle's family (his brother). Many years ago I had to request a certified copy of my own birth certificate from NJ  when I needed to get a passport, but I don't recall the process. I checked and since he was born over 80 years ago (he would have turned 90 next month) I'd have to do it all by mail. 

[mumto2]

FWIW, my grandmother died in 1960 in California and my Uncle’s both traveled there to take care of things.  They managed to get her birthday wrong,  maiden name spelled really badly, and a couple of other things are off.  I did genealogy pretty seriously for a few years and she appears correctly in many public family trees etc so I never even thought of having it fixed.   I have her original death certificate but I am not sure anyone else ever pulled it.  I got it from my mom.  I wouldn’t worry.