Question
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Louisiana
My mother-inlaw recently passed away, leaving my wife and myself as her benificarys. She had an insurance policy that would pay for her home in the event of her death. The Insurance Company required a death certificate as proof of her death. Somehow an error was made in recording her SSN on the original death certificate. I applied to the Office of Vital Records for the State of Louisiana for an amended copy of the death certificate which would reflect the correct social security number. The only thing done to amend the mistake, was a line through, the incorrect number, and hand write the correct number above it. The insurance company will not except this as a legal document, even though it has the state seal. The Office of Vital Records says that the document is legal and will not modify the document. Is this a stall tactic by the Insurance Company. What legal recourse do I have to settle this matter? Any suggestions?
Answer
This is not a stall tactic.
You need to bring this to the attention to the person in charge at that state's health department for their attention. A clerk may have felt that crossing out the error was okay, but that is sloppy. A completely new certificate is supposed to be retyped with the correct number in it and certified by the person in charge.
DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (tiekh@yahoo.com)
Answer
On second thought, it does look like a stall tactic from the insurance company--the primary reason they should accept the document is to verify that the death has actually occurred, and since the Social Security Number has been revised, there should be no reason for them to reject the document.
If you have problems getting a completely corrected certificate from the department of health, then write a letter to the governor of your state expressing your concerns and your need for an expedited document for this particular matter of financial importance, and the governor, if sympathetic to your case, can intervene directly by ordering/asking the supervisor of the department of health to get this matter taken care of. Or contact your State Insurance Commissioner and ask him to investigate and intervene on your behalf. Best of luck to you--seems like they are making this harder than it needs to be.
DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (tiekh@yahoo.com)