The next 10 years

[FosseWay]

Milly -- Quite agree, though I'm surprised that there isn't the same system for death certificates as marriages. When I got married, we had the option of getting extra certificates from the RO within a certain time after the wedding for half price (then £3.50 I think), so we got two extra ones on top of the one at the actual ceremony. I have never had to register/deal with a death, thankfully.

[Cell]

I have a bee in my bonnet about Death certificates at the moment (modern current ones not ancestor ones).   When someone dies you need to have quite a few copies done and they are all charged at the same rate. Surely there should be a one-off cost for the first one and then a nominal sum for the copies done at the time.  And then stupid companies demand to have them sent to them when there is no need... We have been trying to sort out my late father's internet account and they won't talk to us without a copy of the certificate...which would cost a fortune to buy and send recorded dlivery and then they would probably just lose it.... grrrrrr

Sorry - getting a bit off -topic with that one.   

Milly

 Hi Milly,
replying to the copy bit.

I think they really do mean a copy - unless they say   you must send  the original  certified copy ( which they  then will also state they will return the originals back to you).
Scan  the original certified copy.  Print out how many you need  and send them like that - If this internet  company need legal  authentication - take your scanned copies  to a JP with the original certified copy - the Jp will sign your copies  to say  that he/she has  seen the original  certified copy and this is a true  image -all legal and total above aboard.

 
I've sent enough  BMD copies to governmet  departments( and not companies who do not have any authority - who seem to try it on). I send scanned print outs of the originals )then have a JP  signing the copies and stating it  is  a true copy -

 I really hope that helps.
Kind regards

[Redroger]

I am all for fair payment for a fair day's (or hour's  etc.) work. The LDS people are volunteers who have transcribed or are performing work in connection with a religious conviction. No confusion in my mind, about this, a simple matter of ethics as I see it.

[Nick29]

Sorry, I'm having trouble seeing your point.   A few posts ago you were talking about pay sites, not the LDS Church.

[Redroger]

See reply No 49 above Nick.The LDS people performed a very useful service with the groundwork for the IGI, now, why not them, or if legally possible the present holders of the films put them on the net for searching, preferably free at time of use.

[FosseWay]

The problem is that the equipment and resources required for the LDS or anyone else to put material online isn't free of charge to them. If they, FreeBMD or whoever choose to undertake voluntary projects, great -- but the voluntary nature, and their reliance on donations, will inevitably slow the process down.

As I said, I draw a distinction between the task of preserving the original records and allowing the public reasonable access to them in a library or archive, and the task of scanning, hosting, transcribing, indexing and writing programs to search data. The first should be provided free by the state; the second is IMO something that anyone can legitimately undertake to do, and can charge for if they like. And market forces can work both ways -- there's complete competition here, so anyone can transcribe this information and host it, and if you prefer FindMyPast to Ancestry (for example), whether on cost, accessibility, transcription reliability or whatever, you can vote with your wallet.

And I still don't really get your argument about exploitation, redroger. It's only exploitative if the people volunteering their transcribing services are misled about the purpose and eventual use to which their efforts will be put. When I transcribed for FreeBMD, I did so on the basis of that organisation's ethos; when I did similarly for Ancestry, the same applied. No-one's tried to move the goalposts.

[Redroger]

Whilst I understand your point, FosseWay, I still believe that the potential for exploitation is there, but if it was to be made plain, and I mean a lot plainer than a computer software "agreement" that the transcriptions might later but put out for paid viewing, then that is OK. I assume you mean simply the preservation of documents to be provided free by the state, fine, but what happens when a government takes power which is obsessed with cutting public expenditure? I suspect these services would be the first to go, as I fear places like the National Archive and County Record Offices may do in the near future.

[millymcb]

 Hi Milly,
replying to the copy bit.

I think they really do mean a copy - unless they say   you must send  the original  certified copy ( which they  then will also state they will return the originals back to you).

Hi Cell....actually what is really bugging me is that the internet providor is insisting on seeing a copy of the certificate at all!! I just don't see why I should have to send it just to switch the service into my mother's name.  They are quite happy to take her direct debit payment but won't speak to her!   And... I already gave in once and eventually sent a scan of the certificate but either they have not done anything with it or it is not enough. We really have enough to do without messing about sorting this out.  None of the utilities wanted to see proof of anything.   Grrrr.    Grrrr.    Grrrr. 

Anyway - off topic again.
 

Milly

[Redroger]

Is a JP allowed to charge to certify a document? I know that a Doctor charges for a private sick certificate if required, and a lawyer will also charge , often in guineas!