Inheritance, immigration, divorce and marriage: how to get important registry office documents and why they are needed

All people on the planet encounter civil registry offices: from birth to death. And between these two starting points, many events occur that are subject to state registration: marriages, divorces, name changes, births of children - and so on in a circle, from generation to generation. Countries, laws, rules for issuing documents, forms of registry office certificates change, but what remains unchanged is that at all times events such as birth and death, marriage and divorce were and are subject to state registration.

Photo: Shutterstock

Each of us at least once in our lives has had to contact the registry office to obtain a marriage certificate or register the birth of a child. Many had to request documents from the archive - their own or documents regarding their children. Often we need documents from parents, grandparents, great-grandparents.

Inheritance

Documents confirming kinship are required in all cases of inheritance by law. Inheritance can occur in two ways: by law or by will. When inheriting by will, the basis for entering into an inheritance is a will (regardless of the degree of kinship). When inheriting by law, the basis for inheritance is family ties with the testator, which, of course, must be documented.

For example, let's talk about the heirs of the first stage: the spouse, children and parents of the testator. In the case of a spouse, the marriage certificate will be the basis for legal inheritance. For children and parents - birth certificates. But if one of the heirs or the testator himself changed his surname during his life, then marriage certificates or extracts from the marriage records will be required.

In inheritance by right of representation, when grandchildren inherit after deceased grandparents, the situation is even more complicated. They need to prove kinship with their grandparents, that is, first to prove the connection with their parents, and then the connection of parents with their parents.

When inheriting after the death of siblings, it is necessary to prove the presence of the same parents. To do this, use birth certificates and, in the case of a change of surname, certificates and extracts from marriage records.

Proving family ties with nephews and nieces requires the restoration of even more links.

Immigration

The most important path for which registry office documents are needed is immigration. Reasons are necessary for any immigration process. You need to prove either the place of birth; or nationality; or being related to or married to a person who already has or is eligible for appropriate immigration status.

Proving the nationality of your great-grandmother, you will need to contact the registry office at the alleged place of her birth. However, information about a person can be obtained by him or his authorized representative. If the person about whom you are requesting information has died, you will need to prove both the fact of his death and your relationship with him.

Act records in relation to people who daily apply to Our New York officeare scattered around the world. To unearth the act record of the birth of a great-grandmother from Kyiv, one has to restore documents confirming kinship all over the world. This is a chain of appeals to registry offices in various cities and countries, when one document cannot be obtained without a second one.

One of the difficulties that many of our clients face is that today's civil status certificates do not always provide the information they are looking for. For example, Soviet birth certificates always indicated the nationality of the child's parents, while modern certificates are issued according to completely different standards.

Thus, birth certificates issued in Ukraine, in principle, do not have a “nationality” column. In this case, instead of a certificate, it is necessary to request an extract from the act record, which will indicate all the information contained in the act record, even if it was not included in the certificate.

Another difficulty arises with the Russian evidence. There is another extreme here. In the middle of the XNUMXth century, act records were not filled out in too much detail. For example, often they did not indicate the patronymic and place of birth. It was supposed to be clear. That a child born to Alexander is, by default, Alexandrovich, and that if the place of birth registration is Moscow, then everyone understands that the place of birth is the city of Moscow.

Today's legislation does not allow the inclusion of information in the registry office certificate that is not in the vital record. This means that if there is no middle name in the registration record, then it will not be in the re-issued certificate; if the place of birth is not indicated in the registration record, then no one will guess, and in the repeated birth certificate there will be a dash in the “place of birth” column. There is a way out of this situation - you can submit an application to make changes to the act record. It can be submitted by the person in respect of whom the act record was drawn up, or another interested person (if this person is no longer alive). Based on the results of making changes to the act record, a second certificate is issued, which will already contain the necessary information.

Marriage

If the marriage is the first, then nothing but the passports of the future spouses and their mutual desire is not needed when applying to the registry office. But if the parties or one of the parties were previously in a registered marriage, then it is necessary to prove that the previously concluded marriage was dissolved. This is proved by a certificate of dissolution of a previous marriage or a court decision.

There is nothing easier than obtaining a divorce certificate in the jurisdiction where the applicant lives. To do this, he needs to contact any registry office with a passport, pay the state fee - and the treasured document in his pocket.

On the subject: How to translate important documents correctly so that they are accepted by government agencies in the United States or in the immigrant's home country

But what if the marriage was dissolved abroad? TO us Many people who got divorced in the USA, where they no longer live today, apply. And without a court decision on divorce, their new marriage is not registered in any jurisdiction. What to do in this case? – It is necessary to obtain a divorce document with an apostille. You may ask: how can you get one while, say, in Russia, when you don’t have a US visa and there’s no way to get one? - Very simple! You can get any documents from the USA using the help our company. These are not only court decisions on divorce, but also marriage certificates, birth certificates of children, death certificates of relatives and much more.

What to do if the American marriage is not dissolved

If you registered a marriage while in the United States, and then moved to live in another country, your marriage remains a marriage. Don't forget about it and don't discount it. Your marriage is valid. Even if your passport does not have a stamp about this marriage. Even if no one knows about this marriage. Even if there is no apostille on the marriage certificate. Even if you basically do not have a marriage certificate in your hands. Despite any excuses and reservations, if the marriage was concluded abroad, it cannot be forgotten. It must either be terminated or canceled (recognized as invalid). There is no third.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read all this on ForumDaily New York.

Those who decide to hide their heads in the sand, forgetting about foreign marriages, risk facing a huge range of problems in the future, especially if they enter into a subsequent marriage without dissolving the previous one. Here is the potential division of property, and alimony for other people's children, and the inheritance of your property by strangers, in fact, people.

As long as you are alive, you can protect your rights and prove that, for example:

• the foreign marriage was registered without the purpose of creating a family, and therefore it is fictitious and subject to invalidation from the moment of its conclusion;
• the overseas spouse lived separately all these years and did not participate in the acquisition of “common” property;
• children, although they are registered in your name, are not yours by blood and, therefore, you have no maintenance obligations to them.

But after death, there will be no one to protect your rights, and there is no protection mechanism as such: your heirs - the legal spouse and her children born during your marriage, will come and take theirs. There is only one conclusion from this - stop your marriages in time. A Our New York office will gladly help you with this.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Marriage with an American: useful tips from the US Migration Service

Marriage, birth and divorce certificates: what to do with important documents issued by another country

International divorce: how to divide custody of a child if the parents are citizens of different countries

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.