Parent is in prison - signature needed?

[martincco]

We have a sister in our ward with 2 children that have no records. She would like us to create records for them and add them to her family. The father of the children is in prison. He is friendly to the Church. The sister is still married to the children's father but does not visit/contact him. We do think there is a legal custody document drawn up. Do we need to get the signature/permission of both parents to create a record for the children, or is it enough to just have the mother's signature?

I see instructions for many situations but have not seen one like that. I recognize the Handbook cannot cover every possible condition. Just wondering if anyone has had experience with a married couple where one is in prison and a new record (or baptism) needs to be approved. Thanks.

[russellhltn]

33.6.2 says, "If only one parent has legal custody of the child, the permission of that parent is sufficient."

I am not a lawyer, but I'd think being in prison would pause any legal custody. If there's a document drawn up, so much the better.

[jdlessley]

General Handbook, 33.6.2, states unblessed children under age 9 can have a record created when "at least one parent or one grandparent is a member of the Church" and "both parents give permission for a record to be created." The permission does not have to be written. However the Blank Create Record Form (seven or younger) form must be completed with the signature of at least one parent.

Based on the information you provided in your post it appears all that needs to be done is to get the verbal approval from the father and the mother can fill out and sign the form for each child. Your ward clerk should be familiar with these procedures and can print out the form from Leader and Clerk Resources online. He should contact the stake clerk if he is not familiar with these procedures.

[martincco]

Thanks for your thoughts, suggestions. @russellhltn, we do not know the status of the legal custody. I did some googling, and it seems that a judge would almost always grant full custody to the non-imprisoned parent, but we do not know if she asked for it. And the children were actually living with the grandparents until just recently. I am not sure why. One thing I am not hoping is that maybe the grandparents actually have custody. They are active members, too. If that is the case, we may be able to easily get their signatures. We have a lot of information to still gather from them, and it is all going to be quite personal and sensitive.

@jdlessley, that's interesting about the second parent need only give verbal permission. I had not noticed that part before. Not that it helps too much, at least not at this second. We do not know where he is, or even if he is anywhere near Boise. And it seems that we would need to get this directly. Having her tell us that 'he said it's fine' seems to me like the way lawsuits against the Church get started.

I think we need to go back to the mother and ask those sensitive questions. If she wants the kids to have records, we need more information. Maybe it will turn out to be easy (she has full custody, or the grandparents do), but in my experience, these types of things are never easy. Thanks for your help.

[BrianEdwards]

Given the particular nature of this issue, it might also be good to consider GHB 18.4. Although child record creation isn't an ordinance (and as stated can be done without the naming and blessing ordinance), since you do have questions about the legal rights of parents for a complicated situation, contacting the General Counsel office might be helpful.

And if you were to do that, it would also be great if you made sure to update this thread with those results, so that others can benefit from what you find out.