Can't find member to pull records into our unit

A couple in our ward had a son get married roughly a year ago. He has sort of gone off the rails and gone overseas by himself (without his wife). His mom asked for his record to be brought into our unit. I have tried more than once, using the name and birthdate combination (of which I am certain) and I get the message that there are no matches for that name/birthdate combination. Since they are asking, they are clearly not aware of whether or not he has chosen to leave the church without their knowledge. How can I best resolve this for her? Is he protected by a privacy standard in this case and will the mom just need to ask him? I'm assuming HQ won't share such info with me (a ward clerk not of his unit). Thanks for any helpful info.

If he does not reside in your unit, I would not bring his record in. Church policy is that membership records remain in the unit where the individual resides.

rjamesh77 wrote:Is he protected by a privacy standard in this case and will the mom just need to ask him?

Assuming he's legally an adult, then yes, his membership status shouldn't be revealed even to his mother. Since he's not living in your unit, you don't have any stewardship over him or his records and should probably just tell his mother that you can't help.

I'm not sure about now, but in the past when I've called support, they've been able to tell me I need to contact "confidential records". Which tells me all I needed to know.

I'd suggest reviewing Handbook 1: 13.6. In particular 13.6.4 and 13.6.9. I'd use 13.6.4 final paragraph as your "prime directive".

As for the mother, inform the bishop and let him handle it. I'm not sure what she expects to happen with the records in "her" ward if he's not there.