Posted by PROPERTY MANAGEMENT New Horizon Properties on 11/14/08 7:06pm
Msg #269742

Is it Comflict of Interest when..

Ok. I have here a document for my brother. It's a Certificate of Identity/Sworn Statement-Birth & Death. My brother never had a birth certificate. He called the hospital were he was "delivered" and they replied with this dicument siad he needed it becuase his medical records cannot be found. This document is a request to create a new birth certificate. Is it conflict of iinterest to notarize this doc for my brother?

Reply by jojo_MN on 11/14/08 7:13pm
Msg #269743

Has he gone to the county in which he was born? The hospital should have registered him there.

As far as if you can notarize it, check in your CA notary manual. In MN, WI and IA, we can't notarize any vital records--it has to be done by the county.

Reply by PROPERTY MANAGEMENT New Horizon Properties on 11/14/08 7:20pm
Msg #269746

Guess I should add we whent to the county clerks office to get the birth certificate, which is how we found out. County clerk told us they couldn't find my brother in there records and he's called the hospital and they mailed him the doc, but he hasn't been able to go to the hospital due to he just turned 18 goes to school, no car, and a part-time job, and are parents are plain out broke. Not sure if goin to the hospital would do much better than the phone call.

Reply by LKT/CA on 11/14/08 10:31pm
Msg #269760

<<<County clerk told us they couldn't find my brother in there records....he just turned 18 goes to school....>>>

I could understand your situation if your brother was 115......but he's 18 (same as my son) and your parents HAD to produce a birth certificate for him to start kindergarten. I think someone was just lazy at the county clerks office. Get a birth certificate at www.vitalchek.com..... THEY'LL find it. Make sure you put in the CORRECT county he was born in.

Reply by Michelle/AL on 11/14/08 7:20pm
Msg #269745

Alabama Notaries are prevented from doing this too. n/m

Reply by PAW on 11/14/08 7:21pm
Msg #269747

From page 12 of the CA notary Handbook (2008), "A notary public is not prohibited from notarizing for relatives or others, unless doing so would provide a direct financial or beneficial interest to the notary public."

Since the Certificate of Identity is not a public record nor a vital record, there should be no problem in your notarizing the document unless, as stated in the handbook, there is a conflict of interest.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 11/14/08 9:09pm
Msg #269752

In this case, a judge might ask: "To your best personal

knowledge, is he your brother?" Do you have any reason to doubt that he is truly your brother?

If you can answer "Yes," I submit that as an Officer of the State, and your personal, familial conviction, it would not be a conflict of interest - because the interest is in the the gretest possible proof of identification of the brother.

A DNA test could be used to prove the obvious, if needed.

Reply by davidK/CA on 11/14/08 10:06pm
Msg #269757

Re: In this case, a judge might ask: "To your best personal

If he has the proper ID I'd spend the $10 and have someone else perform the notarization. If he doesn't have the proper ID then you would have to use Credible Witness(es). See page 10 of the CA notary Public Handbook.

Reply by sue_pa on 11/15/08 8:03am
Msg #269769

You have to be kidding.

the other week I was mocking what I find extraordinary in CA - your credible witness rules. I made a joke (I thought it was funny) that in CA you couldn't 'personally' identify your sister if she didn't have id on her but that you could get her neighbors (who you don't know) to identify your own sister.

WHAT POSSIBLE REASON WOULD THERE BE FOR NOT DOING THIS FOR YOUR BROTHER? It is not PROHIBITED by CA law (to the best of my knowledge). People reading these boards truly have different family dynamics than mine if anyone's family would cause an uproar over a sibling notarizing this document.

Reply by Dave_CA on 11/15/08 11:00am
Msg #269779

Re: You have to be kidding.

I agree completely wit PAW and I would notarize this without hesitation.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 11/17/08 2:05am
Msg #269870

Re: You have to be kidding.

Agreed. It is perfectly acceptable for a family member to notarize the Identity Statement when requesting a birth certificate in CA. There really is no conflict to be had in that case.