HELP!!! Grandmother lost all ID's

[jlc1012]

My 88 yo Grandmother has misplaced EVERYTHING, her photo ID, her Birth Certificate and even all expired ID's. She is supposed to fly to Disney with my aunt on Thursday. My mother is there looking through all of her belongings right now. I am afraid she may have thrown them all away. Any ideas on how they can be replaced by Thursday morning?? She will be so upset if she cannot go. This trip has been the only thing she has talked about for the past 3 months.

 

[eeyore45]

I know Driver license facilities can give photo ID, but I'm sure you would need some sort of verification, how about a call to her doctor's office? Does she have any state aid? Social Security may also be able to help, but I would think it would be a very long time to get thru to someone, that's why I would try the doctor's office (esp if she is on medicare) and then the Driver's License, they may only be open until noon on Saturday, and ours is closed on Mondays..........


at least you know today, and not Thursday

 

[bytheblood]

You can get an immediate copy of your birth certificate at the county records office. In Dallas, we pay $11 and they provide a certified copy of your birth certificate on the spot. It never takes more than 30 minutes. We did it for our Disney Cruise and it was perfect. We did not want to take our originals. Also, she could go and get a passport with that birth certificate copy & SS card and that would provide a photo ID.

Best wishes to her. Praying all works out and your grandmother gets to experience this magical trip.

 

[NotUrsula]

She can go without ID as long as you are not coming from outside the US. However, she will have to go through extremely rigorous security screening to make up for not having it. Give yourselves at least an extra hour at the airport; perhaps two.

 

[seashoreCM]

There is at least one recorded instance (a high school student on a field trip) of someone being held back from her flight because she lost her photo ID. (Tom Martino Troubleshooter talk show).

So do your utmost, take a day off work to go to the appropriate office (Dept. of Motor Vehicles?), stand on your head if needed, to get Grandma a replacement photo ID. From what I heard on the show and what TSA can do at the airport, I would consider this a legitimate family emergency.

Unrelated hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/tmartino.htm

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Is it possible that someone stole these items from Grandma? That is the first thing I thought of when I saw your thread. Seniors are vulnerable to identity theft. I would check her credit report to see if there is any unusual activity. Good luck.

 

[kareneast]

Go to the registrars office in the town she was born and you will be able to get a new birth certificate. You can also go to the registrars office where she was married and get a new marriage certificate to prove her last name. I had to do this a few years ago for my grandmother. Only took me a couple of hours to do and that was with driving to 2 different towns.

For a photo id see if the county she lives in offers county id's. I see you live in NJ. I live in Jackson, NJ and Ocean County offers county photo id's. (only takes about a 1/2 hour to an hour to get) Here is the requirements for Ocean County:
What do I need to obtain a County ID Card?

Here's what you need...

U.S. Citizen
(1) 2 Documents that contain evidence of your identity. The 2 Documents may be any of the following:
Civil Birth Certificate with a Raised Seal
Social Security Card
Ocean County Voter Registration Card
State of New Jersey Driver License displaying an Ocean County address
United States Passport, current or expired less than 3 years
Current Municipal, County, State, Federal Government Employee or Active US Military Photo ID Card
DD-214 Military Discharge Record

(2) 1 Document displaying proof that you are an Ocean County Resident: *
Utility or Credit Card Bill from past 90 days
Correspondence from the IRS/State Tax Office in the last year
Property tax bill/statement from the past year

Checking/Savings Account Statement from past 60 days
* (Not necessary if your Driver License or Voter Registration Card displays Ocean County residency)

(3) $10.00 to pay the fee for the card

The county your grandmother lives in may be different, but hopefully this will give you an idea of what might be needed. If you do a search for the county with state, you should be able to find the county website and hopefully that will list the info you need.

Good Luck

 

[NotUrsula]

I find it so interesting how so many people are assuming that her Grandmother was born somewhere close enough that she could just go to the local county courthouse to get a copy of her birth certificate. I know very few people in this day and age that still live in or near the same county where they were born. She not only might have been born in another state, she might have been born in another country, which makes things much more complicated. (And would lead straight back the US State Dept. for the immigration records.)

There is a long article on Fodors that discusses this situation and gives a lot of information on who to contact and what to do: http://www.fodors.com/wire/archives/000928.cfm

 

[eileenkeeney]

One of my fears, when traveling, is the fear that I will loose my I.D. and not be able to get on my return flight.

If I lost my i.d. before I left home, that is far less stressful.

My local DMV office keeps a photo in their records, so that I don't need to have all the same paperwork to replace my i.d, that I needed to initially get my i.d.

The above link, with information related to how the airlines handle lost i.d. cases was useful (although just vague enough that it won't relieve much of the stress).

Does anyone know of a service (maybe a service one can buy for a trip) that will quickly replace a lost i.d.
I have heard of credit card services that replace lost passports.

 

[jlc1012]

Thanks everyone, unfortunatley she was born in 1916 in Brooklyn Ny in a house, so I cannot travel to Brooklyn to get a new one. Last year we were able to get her a birth certificate to travel with, but it is no where to be found. We contacted The clerks office but they said in can take up to 3 weeks for a new one. We were able to find an expired photo drivers license. We are going to call the airline and ask if they would accept this. Hopefully they will let her travel with this.

 

[Lewisc]

Thanks everyone, unfortunatley she was born in 1916 in Brooklyn Ny in a house, so I cannot travel to Brooklyn to get a new one. Last year we were able to get her a birth certificate to travel with, but it is no where to be found. We contacted The clerks office but they said in can take up to 3 weeks for a new one. We were able to find an expired photo drivers license. We are going to call the airline and ask if they would accept this. Hopefully they will let her travel with this.

You can get it in about a week if you pay a little extra.
http://www.vitalchek.com/provider_overview.asp?provider_id=3746

The problem isn't just the airline it's the TSA.

 

[eeyore45]

Thanks everyone, unfortunatley she was born in 1916 in Brooklyn Ny in a house, so I cannot travel to Brooklyn to get a new one. Last year we were able to get her a birth certificate to travel with, but it is no where to be found. We contacted The clerks office but they said in can take up to 3 weeks for a new one. We were able to find an expired photo drivers license. We are going to call the airline and ask if they would accept this. Hopefully they will let her travel with this.

I wouldnt bet on it!! Its expired, can you take her to the DMV with the expired license and just get a State ID - I know DH did this (dont ask!! ) You cant do anything with an expired Driver's license, even if it does have a photo!! Trust me, plan on going to the DMV, just ask for a photo ID - then no worries!!