Birth Certificate
There are many official documents you’ll use throughout your life. These official documents will each do different things and have different amounts of weight. For example, while a bank statement is an official document in some senses, it’s not usually something you can use to prove your identity to a leasing agent.
Official documents are necessary for many situations. Everyone needs a record to show they were born, and a birth certificate is that record. When you need to prove to someone where you were born, who your parents are, what date you were born, or even that you are who you say you are, a birth certificate is probably what you’ll use.
What Is a Birth Certificate?
When a person is born, their parents will receive a certified birth certificate, typically through the state once the hospital has sent over all the information necessary to give the state a reason to issue the birth certificate. This birth certificate will have all sorts of information on it, and it’s a primary document that you can use to prove your identity. If you ever lose it or something destroys it, you can get another one for a small fee from the state agency that issued the certificate.
Are There Different Types of Birth Certificates?
There are multiple different types of birth certificates you might have throughout your life. Some of these might be more helpful than others, and not all will apply to your life:
- An “informational” birth certificate, which your parents may have received from the hospital when you were born, is commemorative, and it’s not a binding legal document.
- An adoptive birth certificate is a modified birth certificate that someone receives if they’re adopted in certain situations. It legally changes their name and the parent’s names and may even change the place of birth.
- A modified birth certificate is a birth certificate that’s modified in any number of ways. Most commonly, it’s used if you change your name later in life and you want your birth certificate to reflect that.
These different types of birth certificates are important for different reasons. It’s always a good idea to research them to learn more about how you can use these different birth certificates.
What Is a Birth Certificate Used For?
A birth certificate has a variety of uses because of the information included in it. Because a birth certificate gives crucial information like where you were born, and because it’s very hard for someone to falsely get a certified copy of a birth certificate, you can use it in many ways. These are a few of the ways you might use a birth certificate:
- Proving you are who you say you are.
- Registering for school.
- Getting married or divorced.
- Changing your name.
- Applying for a passport.
- Getting a copy of your Social Security card.
How Can Enformion Help You Get the Most out of a Birth Certificate?
In most cases, birth certificates are public records; they only cease to be public records if one is modified for any reason and the original is sealed. That means you can check birth certificate information through Enformion. Of course, only the person who’s legally allowed to have it can receive a certified copy of the birth certificate, but you can check to make sure information matches up and get that information for yourself.