Tech Forum

Situation: A couple in our ward has their grandson (and his mother) living with them. He is 9 years old and was baptized last year. His record that resides in our ward does not have baptism and confirmation information. He has a duplicate record in a different ward (where his baptism information is), where he is listed as part of the household of his father. I'm told that both parents have joint custody, so he lives part time with his mother and grandparents in our ward, and part time with his father.

I'm hesitant to pull his record from the other ward so that I can merge them, because that would break up the household over in that ward, however, he only attends in our ward.

Long story short: I'm unsure how to handle a joint custody situation for a child.

I tried searching the forums and help section and couldn't find anything. My best guess would be to heed the parent's wishes, but if they both want records in their own ward, what's the protocol there? I'd prefer to not have duplicate records for someone, but maybe there are situations where that is the most appropriate...

The bishops need to get together and make a decision. There can be only one record. However, the other ward can create an out-of-unit record so it can appear where it needs to.

If the child is only attending one ward, it seems like an easy decision as to which ward should have the real record.

philman625 wrote:I'd prefer to not have duplicate records for someone, but maybe there are situations where that is the most appropriate...

Definitely don't do that. If both ward want/need a record then one ward should hold the actual record (the bishop in this ward would be responsible for priesthood interviews when the time comes) and the other ward can create an out-of-unit record (as russlehltn indicated) which will show him on rolls and member lists but won't allow things like ordinances to be recorded.

Very nice, it sounds like an out-of-unit record is the answer here. I'll work with his parents to determine which Ward should hold the actual record, probably ours. Thanks everyone.

You've already gotten solid advice and found an appropriate answer, so I just have one additional thought:

philman625 wrote:I'd prefer to not have duplicate records for someone, but maybe there are situations where that is the most appropriate...

There are no situations where that is appropriate. There should only be one membership record for an individual.