Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Over 25 million Italians have emigrated between 1861 and 1960 with a migration boom between 1871 and 1915 when over 13,5 million emigrants left the country for European and overseas destinations.
Post Reply
User avatar
toasty
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 23
Joined: 26 Jul 2013, 00:31

Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Post by toasty »

Hey everyone!

I've been referencing posts here on the forum for a while now, but now I have a question of my own I hope someone will be kind enough to help with.

I am trying to get my grandfather's birth certificate from the state of New York (not NYC or any of it's boroughs). I live in California. The NY State dept. of Health and Vital Records will not send me this document, and are saying I need a court order for them to release it to me. My mother, (my grandfather's daughter and executor of his estate), has tried to get the document as well, and despite showing proof she is his daughter and executor of his estate, they will not send her the document.

I called them and was told to do the above (have my mom show she is the executor), but so far, no luck. The only other option they gave us was to file a request for Judicial Intervention, wait for a court date and appear in court and explain why I need this document. Despite the fact that this is going to cost me hundreds to thousands of dollars and be a total pain in the arse, I'm willing to do it.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Or know of any lawyers that are familiar with this? Any advice, here on the forum or in a PM would be greatly appreciated! (khkirby2 at gmail)

thanks in advance,

Katherine
User avatar
mler
Master
Master
Posts: 2503
Joined: 01 Apr 2006, 00:00

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Interven

Post by mler »

Yes, New York State is difficult, but you should be able to get it through your mom without a court order. Do a search at www.italiancitizenship.freeforums.org Look in the Document section and ask for a search of New York State. I just looked through it, and someone posted a template for that purpose.
User avatar
toasty
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 23
Joined: 26 Jul 2013, 00:31

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Interven

Post by toasty »

Thanks mler! I will do that, it seems crazy to me that it has been so hard for us this far, so I will check out the link! much appreciated
jennabet
Master
Master
Posts: 1396
Joined: 14 Jul 2010, 20:28
Location: Ancestral Homeland - Abruzzo Italy

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Interven

Post by jennabet »

If your grand-father is deceased, your mother will not be able to obtain his birth certificate from New York State without a court order. In the early part of 2011, my companion needed a certified copy of his mother's birth certificate from Niagara Falls, NY. He was not able to obtain this document himself without a court order. Fortunately, his mother is still living and she obtained her own birth certificate from New York State and forwarded it to her son. By the way, the rules making things difficult were implemented in New York State in early 2011 after Rebpublicans won the 2010 mid-term election.
Italia1963
Rookie
Rookie
Posts: 65
Joined: 16 Aug 2011, 23:59

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Interven

Post by Italia1963 »

You do not need an attorney to start a court case in New York State. You can file paperwork as a per se. It takes some work, but if you have some initiative, you can do this.
You also do not have to appear in court. When your documents are filed, it will be assigned to a Supreme court Justice who will make a decision based on your paperwork.

As stated above, check out the template section of the italian forum where I posted my experience with requesting my parent's birth certificate though a court order.
For your information: NYS has a court procedure called E-file where you have to submit your paperwork...unfortunately, my court case was prior to the installation of this program and I am not sure how this works. But if you look under the NYS Unified Court System web pages, you may see how this is done.
User avatar
toasty
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 23
Joined: 26 Jul 2013, 00:31

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Interven

Post by toasty »

Thanks Italia1963! I might be PM'ing you some questions if you don't mind...
User avatar
toasty
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 23
Joined: 26 Jul 2013, 00:31

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Interven

Post by toasty »

Hi everyone,

Back for an update - I've gotten my father's birth certificate finally! woohoo!
Didn't end up filing an RJI, we sidestepped that process by filling out the paperwork to essentially become the executor of my grandfather's estate, which then gave my mom (his daughter) the right to request his birth certificate. This obviously won't work for all people/situations, but hopefully will be helpful to some of you out there dealing with the NY state health dept.
It's much easier and cheaper than the RJI process, whoever is the deceased's primary heir, or whoever legally can claim to be their executor of estate just has to fill out the Small Estate Affidavit (http://www.nycourts.gov/forms/surrogate ... tate.shtml) and write a letter to the surrogate court explaining why you are requesting the document. They ask for a check of $1.00, plus then you will have to pay the fee to the NY State Health dept/vital statistics to actually send you the certified document.
good luck out there!
Cosciaam
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: 01 Jan 2017, 03:29

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Post by Cosciaam »

Toasty:

My father is deceased and we never went to probate because he had very little assets. I'm assuming I can't file the small estate affidavit since he didn't reside in NY. Is that correct?

Man, NY makes things soooo unnecessarily difficult.
lukederosso
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: 04 Jan 2017, 05:26

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Post by lukederosso »

Hi toasty, hoping you're still around! Can you explain more about getting a birth cert. through an executor? I'm not sure where to go next from the link in your update. I also can't find anything on New York's DOH website about an executor being able to get a certified copy. I'd love more details about how to use this route. Thanks!
User avatar
toasty
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 23
Joined: 26 Jul 2013, 00:31

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Post by toasty »

eccomi!

Cosciaam - I'm not totally sure. So your father was born in NY but wasn't a resident?
I don't think it will matter, since the rules seem to apply to sensitive documents under the jurisdiction of NY state. Which will be true if your father was a resident or not. (I think.)

Lukederosso - I think you basically need to go to that page, find the form that applies to you (that is, to your relative). There's a checklist in PDF format at the bottom which may help while you fill it out. As you fill it out, you can put a reason why you need certification that you are the executor.
We ended up writing an entirely separate cover letter explaining the situation, and included a copy of my grandfather's death certificate, the $1.00 check and a return envelope. I think the form had to be notarized as well. Everything was sent to the surrogate court in the county where the documents were held.
Once you send all the documents over to the surrogate court, they'll review them. If they need more info, they'll contact you (so be sure you include your contact information). Once everything is approved, they'll send you the certification as executor of the state which includes the purpose for which you can use that certificate (in our case, to request the birth certificate from the NY Vital Records office).
Once you have the executor certificate, send it to the Vital Records office and request the birth certificates. Also request that they return the original copy of the certificate to you and include a return envelope. I highly recommend you request multiple copies of the birth cert. so you don't have to make additional requests further down the road (for other family members, etc.).

IN ANY CASE, I really really recommend calling the surrogate court in the county of jurisdiction and asking them EXACTLY what information they need from you.

To summarize:
1. download forms from link
2. call surrogate court in the county relevant to your documents, explain the entire situation
3. send them the requested paperwork to get the Certificate of Voluntary Administration (aka the executor of estate)
4. once you get the Certificate of Voluntary Administration, send it in with your request to the Vital Records dept. Ask for them to return the original certificate, include a return envelope.
Cosciaam
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: 01 Jan 2017, 03:29

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Post by Cosciaam »

So, it turns out that I was easily able to access my father's (Bronx) and grandfather's (Manhattan) birth certificates. I just needed to supply original copies of their death certificates. For my dad's birth record (from Bronx County) I think I had to send some government issued pieces of mail to prove residence. For my grandfather's death certificate, I needed to get my aunt to sign something at a notary saying she gave me permission to order his death certificate since I wasn't next of kin.

No court orders needed. There are things they don't tell you on the website. Livechat, call, or email with something. If you're a blood relative, there is a way.
Alphazip
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 11
Joined: 08 Feb 2017, 20:29

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Post by Alphazip »

Cosciaam, you are talking about records from New York CITY, while toasty was writing about New York STATE. It is apparently easier to order documents from New York City (Bronx, Manhattan, etc.) than from the state (areas of New York outside of NYC).
kmcallej
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: 05 Aug 2017, 16:05

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Post by kmcallej »

Cosciaam, Can you share more about what you did to get your father's and grandfather's birth certificates without having to get a court order? What you submitted and where? My second cousin in England has been having a hard time getting his grandfather's birth certificate from NYC. Thanks.
mck0502
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: 19 Aug 2017, 18:15

Re: Birth Certificate from NY -Request for Judicial Intervention

Post by mck0502 »

Cosciaam,
PLEASE share how you were able to get "my father's (Bronx) and grandfather's (Manhattan) birth certificates". I have been trying to get my Mom's (1921 in Manhattan) spending lots of time, but to no avail. I have her death cetificate. PLEASE share. Thanks so much!!!
Post Reply