2 records for the same person

I have 2 records for the same person (one has a membership number, the other doesn't). Is it possible to merge the 2 records? Can I simply delete the record without the membership number? To complicate things one of the records shows that he is married (the record without the membership number) while the other record (the one with the membership number) shows that he is just part of the household. Can I terminate the marriage to the record without the membership number and marry the wife's record to the record with a membership number? Thanks for the help.

A record without a membership record number is only local to your MLS database, and so canceling it won't have any impact on Church records. So you should definitely cancel that duplicate record, but before you do so, note any information that may be attached to that record (you mentioned marriage information) and record that information on the record with an MRN. There's no need to terminate the marriage on the record without the MRN since it will be deleted anyway.

Thank you. How do I delete the record without the MRN?

snowtyl1 wrote:Thank you. How do I delete the record without the MRN?

In MLS, go to Membership > View and Update. Then your options are all under "Other Record Changes." Which one you choose depends on the kind of record it is. You would choose "Cancel Record" or "Remove Out of Unit Member" or "Remove Nonmember" or "Remove Temporary Records". One of those should work.

What about 2 membership records for the same person with 2 record numbers.

moose390 wrote:What about 2 membership records for the same person with 2 record numbers.

First, make absolutely sure that they are for the same person and not two different people with the same or similar name. In doing so, consider the possibility that one of the records might have been sent to your ward in mistake.

If they really are for the same individual, then choose which record to keep. If the member has an LDS Account then you'll probably want to keep the record associated with that account. Similarly if the member has an calling in another unit then you'll want to use the record associated with the membership number the other unit used to enter the calling. Otherwise you'll probably want to choose the record with the most correct information.

Then look at the record that is going to be cancelled and make sure everything there, especially ordinances, has been entered in the record you will be keeping.

Finally, cancel the now redundant record. Select Membership > Records > Cancel Record from the menu in MLS. Click the button next to Duplicate Record and then enter the record number of the record which is to be kept. Finally, click Close and then Save.

moose390 wrote:What about 2 membership records for the same person with 2 record numbers.

You still need to cancel one of the records, specifying that the reason is "Duplicate". But first do research:

• Make sure that they are truly duplicates, and not just very similar.
• Figure out which record is the more complete record (has ordinances recorded; spouse, parents and/or children listed; etc.
• If both records have ordinances recorded, then I would highly recommend that you contact the Global Service Center before canceling either record.
• But if one record clearly contains no details that are missing from the other record, then you can cancel that lesser record as a duplicate.

You can find more details under Duplicate membership records.

One of them might be a temporary record - so it wouldn't be a big deal to cancel it.