One-and-the-same person process California?

[Valicore]

Hi friends,

I hope you're all well and enjoying the transition from summer to fall. I have been advised that, to avoid any trouble, I might look into getting a one-and-the-same-person declaratory judgment/order for my great great grandfather - he was born Antonino Carnesi in Italy but was illiterate, and as such he basically relied on whatever US officials wrote down when he said his name, ending up with everything from Antonio Carnese (On my great grandmother's birth certificate) to Tony Gairnese as spellings for his name. As I'm located in California, I'm looking for information about doing it here, with or without a lawyer. I know there is some information about some cases in New York and PA from about ten years ago, but I wondered if anyone has any new advice or experiences, especially in California, and perhaps what the cost looked like and lawyer recommendations if you weren't able to do it on your own,

Thank you very much!

Thomas LoCurto

[afecad]

Have you found his birth record in Italy? I do not know how severe this is since I have a similar issue with spelling, "Nestico" & "Nistico" was used for my family across documents as well last and first names were anglicized after arriving in the US which is common. My Grandfather's first name is misspelled on his birth certificate in PA, so this needs to be corrected to connect the dots. My Great-Grandmother had at least 4 to 5 versions of her first name since she came to the US which is spread across documents, how this will tie into her birth record in Italy remains the question. My Great-Grandfather and Great-Great Grandfather switched to their first names to the English variant which makes it easier.

I'm in CA as well, but I'm looking at using ICA, though it's not cheap and they are backlogged several weeks due to the influx of Americans trying to get their Italian Passports. They will do a free consult to see if you are even eligible, before spending $, it's just a slow process in the current state of things. As well I do not think I need a lawyer to update the incorrect spelling of my Grandfather's first name, back of the PA Birth Certificate I just received say's a notarized affidavit with the correction requested can be reviewed, supporting documents can be submitted.