BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Noreen Evans, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
AB 464 (Daly)
As Introduced
Hearing Date: June 11, 2013
Fiscal: Yes
Urgency: No
NR
SUBJECT
Vital records
DESCRIPTION
This bill would update and clarify the law regarding vital
records. Specifically, this bill:
would require the use of a specific form instead of a writing
"substantially in the form prescribed" by statute when an
officer taking the acknowledgement of an instrument endorses
or attaches a certificate;
would allow digitized images, as defined, to be included as
part of a request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or
marriage record;
would clarify that an informational copy of a death
certificate issued by the State Registrar, local registrar, or
county recorder may be used to prove the death of a person for
real property transfers in the county which the property is
located; and
would delete an outdated reference to requests for military
service records.
BACKGROUND
The Office of Vital Records is charged with the responsibility
of maintaining a uniform system for registration and a permanent
central registry with a comprehensive and continuous index for
all birth, death, fetal death, marriage, and dissolution
certificates registered for vital events which occur in
California. Certified copies of these records are available
from the State Registrar, the 58 county recorders, and 61 local
health jurisdictions.
(more)
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This bill, sponsored by the County Recorders Association of
California, would make several clarifying and technical changes
to the law governing the request and release of vital records.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
1.Existing law allows the State Registrar, local registrar, or
county recorder to furnish a certified copy of birth, death,
or marriage to applicants upon request if:
the request is written or faxed and accompanied by a
notarized statement, sworn under penalty of perjury, that
the requester is an authorized person, as defined; or,
the request is made in person, and the official takes a
statement, sworn under penalty of perjury, that the
requester is signing his or her own legal name and is an
"authorized person." (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 103526.)
Existing law defines "authorized person," for purposes of
obtaining certified copies of birth, death, or marriage
records, as any of the following:
the person who is the subject of the record or the
parent or legal guardian of that person;
a party who is entitled to receive the record as a
result of a court order;
law enforcement or governmental agency personnel
conducting official business;
a child, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner,
or grandparent of the person who is the subject of the
record;
an attorney or other person empowered to act on behalf
of the person who is the subject of the record; or
an agent or employee of a funeral establishment who
orders death certificates when acting on behalf of
specified individuals. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 103526
(c).)
Existing law provides that, in all other cases in which the
requester does not meet the requirements of an authorized
person, a certified copy may be provided to the requester but
the document shall be an informational certified copy and
shall be redacted to remove any signatures that appear on the
document. Existing law requires the certified copy to contain
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the statement "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO
ESTABLISH IDENTITY." (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 103526 (b).)
This bill would define "digitized image" as an image of an
original paper request for a certified copy of a birth, death,
or marriage record. This bill would add digitized images to
the list of appropriate ways to request a certified copy of a
birth, death, or marriage record from the State Registrar,
local registrar, or county recorder, and would delete an
obsolete reference to requests for a military service record.
1.Existing law establishes the requirements and process for
obtaining an interest in or title to property which was
affected by the death of a person. (Prob. Code Sec. 200 et
seq.)
Existing law requires a certified copy of a record of death to
accompany an affidavit of death used to prove the death of a
person. (Prob. Code Sec. 210.)
This bill would clarify that both an informational copy and an
authentic copy of a death certificate issued by the State
Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder are certified
copies which may be attached to an affidavit of death.
2.Existing law requires an officer taking the acknowledgment of
an instrument to attach a certificate substantially in the
form prescribed by statute, and further provides that any
certificate of acknowledgment shall be in the form provided by
statute. (Civ. Code Secs. 1188, 1189.)
This bill would instead require the use of the specific form
provided by statute when an officer taking the acknowledgement
of an instrument endorses or attaches a certificate. This bill
would also provide that a certificate of execution shall be in
a form provided by statute.
COMMENT
1.Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
AB 464 makes changes in the relevant code sections that
regulate proper use and access of vital records in the state.
This bill allows for electronic requests for vital records,
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eliminates conflicting statutes, and creates state-wide
standards for acceptable documents for recording real
property.
2.Digitized, scanned images as an acceptable form of request for
vital records
Existing law authorizes a person to make a request for vital
records in person; by mail, or by fax. This bill would add
digitized, scanned images to the list of acceptable forms by
which an individual may request vital records.
With the evolution of technology, the facsimile is becoming
obsolete. A digital scan of an image is of higher quality, and
can be securely transmitted to a recipient through the Internet
with less time and expense than a fax. The author writes, "the
law, as currently written does not provide for technological
advances, such as scanning. This bill will provide the public
with an additional avenue to request copies of vital records.
It is a public service benefit that Recorders can easily
accommodate."
Staff notes that increasingly, it is difficult for many people
to locate fax machines to use, but scanners are widely
available. Even when fax machines are available to the public,
they are often more expensive than scanning a document. Domestic
faxes typically cost between one and two dollars per page, while
scans cost approximately 50 cents per page. Accordingly,
including digitized images as an acceptable form of request for
vital records will arguably create greater access to public
records.
3.Clarifies certified death records
Under existing law the proper way to transfer title upon the
death of a joint tenant is to record an "affidavit of death,"
which requires that a certified copy of the death certificate,
available from the County Records Office, is attached. Counties
can issue two types of death records: (1) an informational copy
where the signature and social security numbers on the
certificate are redacted; and (2) an authorized copy, which is
an un-redacted record available only to individuals with a
certain relationship to the deceased. Both types of records are
"certified copies," but some counties do not accept an
informational copy attached to an affidavit of death for
recording purposes.
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The author argues that it is common practice of counties to
record informational copies as well as authorized copies of
death records. However, it is estimated that 20 percent of
counties are rejecting informational copies based on the advice
of county counsel. The author asserts that, "by introducing
this bill, Recorders believe that it would clarify the law and
provide an easy and perfectly acceptable legal avenue for a
person to transfer title upon death. The intent is an equal
application of the law. Ventura County cited a case where a
citizen complained they had to spend $600 to obtain a court
order to record an affidavit of death in a neighboring county
while Ventura County records informational copies. The probate
code states 'any person' may record an affidavit of death? and
this right is greatly diminished by forcing them to go to court
to obtain permission to purchase an authorized copy of a death
certificate."
To that end, this bill would clarify that informational copies
and authorized copies of death records are both certified copies
for the purpose of recording an affidavit of death. Arguably
this will ensure consistent application of the law between
counties, and facilitate uniformity in the transfer of former
joint tenancies.
4.Clarifies the form notaries must use
This bill would clarify that notaries must use single form
certificates, provided under statute, for acknowledgments taken
in the State of California. Prior to 2006, the law only
required that a certificate of acknowledgment substantially
comply with the statutory form provided in the Civil Code. AB
361 (Runner, Ch. 295, Stats. 2005) instead required that
notaries use the specific statutory form by removing the word
"substantially." However, that bill failed to amend two other
sections of the Civil Code, thereby creating some confusion.
This bill would amend the two remaining sections of the Civil
Code which still allow for notaries to use a "substantially
similar form," thus, clarifying that the form provided under
statute must be used in certificates of acknowledgment.
5.Military service records governed by Government Code
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Since 2004, the release of military service records has been
governed by provisions in the Government Code. (See Gov. Code
Sec. 6107; AB 1179 (Parra, Ch. 6, Stats. 2004).) This bill
would delete an obsolete reference to military service records
in the Health and Safety Code.
Support : California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : County Recorders' Association of California
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
AB 130 (Jeffries, Chapter 412, Statutes of 2009) extended the
existing limitations on the release and access of birth and
death records to marriage records in order to prevent the
unauthorized use of personal information.
SB 1398 (Margett and Hollingsworth, 2008) was substantially
similar to SB 471. This bill died in the Senate Health
Committee.
SB 471 (Margett, 2007) would have required any individual,
authorized by law to obtain a certified copy of a birth or death
certificate, to show proof of identification when the request is
made in person, except when the individual has been a victim of
identity theft. This bill died in the Senate Health Committee.
SB 904 (Battin, 2007) would have required the county recorder,
when furnishing an informational copy of a military service
record, to alter that record by masking the service member's
personal information, as specified, without incurring any
liability. This bill was vetoed by the Governor.
AB 361 (Runner, Chapter 295, Statutes of 2005) See Comment 4.
AB 1179 (Parra, Chapter 6, Statutes of 2004) prohibited county
recorders from providing certified copies of military discharge
papers except to specified persons and allowed county recorders
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to accept faxed, notarized documents when specified information
is present and photographically reproducible.
AB 247 (Speier, Chapter 914, Statutes of 2002) See Background.
AB 1614 (Speier, Chapter 712, Statutes of 2002) See Background.
Prior Vote :
Assembly Floor (Ayes 75, Noes 0)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (Ayes 17, Noes 0)
Assembly Committee on Health (Ayes 19, Noes 0)
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