Showing deceased children in Family Search

I have a sister whose two urbanized children passed away just over a year ago. She's trying to get the temple cards printed for them but their death dates don't seem to be registering in Family Search. It shows them deceased on her tree but overall FS doesn't recognize it so she can't print temple cards. I'm fairly certain I had this conversation with her last month and was told a Famil history consultant could help with that but the consultant called me and said the clerk needs to input death dates. Not sure how to do that.

stormnmormon wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:36 pm . . . the clerk needs to input death dates. Not sure how to do that.

If there are membership records for the two children, the ward clerk needs to record their dates of death on their membership records. If membership records were not created, then you should be able to prepare the information in FamilySearch just as you would for someone who was never a member of the church.

lajackson wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:47 pm

stormnmormon wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:36 pm . . . the clerk needs to input death dates. Not sure how to do that.

If there are membership records for the two children, the ward clerk needs to record their dates of death on their membership records.

Specifically the ward clerk where the records are residing. However, I assume the records are probably either in the 'address unknown' file or their unit didn't have any contact with them since the deaths were not recorded. So in this case it would probably be acceptable for a clerk who has the necessary information to request the records into his unit and then record the deaths. The alternative would be to call the Global Service Department and they should be able to make the changes.

stormnmormon wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:36 pm I have a sister whose two [upbaptized]children passed away just over a year ago. She's trying to get the temple cards printed for them but their death dates don't seem to be registering in Family Search. It shows them deceased on her tree but overall FS doesn't recognize it so she can't print temple cards. I'm fairly certain I had this conversation with her last month and was told a Famil history consultant could help with that but the consultant called me and said the clerk needs to input death dates. Not sure how to do that.

Should we assume that you are her ward clerk, and the membership records for this family are in your unit? If so, then recording the death of a member is a simple process. If not, then you or she will need to contact her ward clerk.

On a related note, we have an LDS friend who passed away in another state 13 months ago, but since her membership record has not transitioned to FamilySearch, I can only assume that her ward clerk has not recorded her death. She has a record in FamilySearch Family Tree, but it was created by friends or relatives, and does not contain her living ordinances. I can't contact her ward clerk, because I don't know where she was living when she passed, so I just have to leave it up to her family to make the request to record her death on her membership record.

eblood66 wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 8:08 am So in this case it would probably be acceptable for a clerk who has the necessary information to request the records into his unit and then record the deaths. The alternative would be to call the Global Service Department and they should be able to make the changes.

drepouille wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 8:45 am I can't contact her ward clerk, because I don't know where she was living when she passed, so I just have to leave it up to her family to make the request to record her death on her membership record.

I was once told by the Global Services Department that it is best if you do not transfer the record just to record the death. A phone call from a clerk or leader will identify the location of the record so that the clerk can be contacted. If the record location is in address unknown, the GSD would rather make the change.

We had an experience where the brother of my wife passed away and the unit did not record his death after multiple contacts from her, and then headquarters would not record his death without a copy of the death certificate or a photo of the gravestone. Perhaps they have had problems with persons falsely reporting members as deceased. So far a clerk can just report a death, things may get more dicey in the future.

My discussion with the GSD that I mentioned in the post just before yours happened because I was looking for the membership record of someone who had died that we did not have a membership record for in our ward. The Membership Department had the record, and when I asked about requesting the record to record the death, the wonderful sister said, No, I will just update the date of death on the record.

Update? Yes. It seems an anxious clerk had recorded that the member died ten years earlier. She mentioned the ward and stake that had the record at the time, which I have been trying to forget for over 25 years now. But I still use that experience (without identifying the location) when I do training for new clerks on the importance of accurate record keeping.

lajackson wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 2:54 pm My discussion with the GSD that I mentioned in the post just before yours happened because I was looking for the membership record of someone who had died that we did not have a membership record for in our ward. The Membership Department had the record, and when I asked about requesting the record to record the death, the wonderful sister said, No, I will just update the date of death on the record.

Update? Yes. It seems an anxious clerk had recorded that the member died ten years earlier. She mentioned the ward and stake that had the record at the time, which I have been trying to forget for over 25 years now. But I still use that experience (without identifying the location) when I do training for new clerks on the importance of accurate record keeping.

Obviously the record could not be transferred to your unit after a false death date had previously been recorded. That additional information changes the premise of your previous post.

garystroble wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 5:40 pm Obviously the record could not be transferred to your unit after a false death date had previously been recorded. That additional information changes the premise of your previous post.

It could have been. She said rather than removing the death date and sending me the record, it was easier for her just to update the death date.

lajackson wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 7:35 pm

garystroble wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 5:40 pm Obviously the record could not be transferred to your unit after a false death date had previously been recorded. That additional information changes the premise of your previous post.

It could have been. She said rather than removing the death date and sending me the record, it was easier for her just to update the death date.

Pretty good bits and pieces memory after 25 years.

garystroble wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 8:16 pm Pretty good bits and pieces memory after 25 years.

Thank you. It is called a journal.