Updating member records from single to married

I have been reviewing our records, as I'm sure the situation is a common issue.

Is it possible to update a record of a member from single to married without adding the detail of the spouse?

I know in our Stake we have a lot of less active members who show as single but we know they are married but getting the specifics required has been difficult in some instances.

It also adds additional names into both YSA & SA lists that should not be there.

Thanks

Paul

rmanpaul wrote:Is it possible to update a record of a member from single to married without adding the detail of the spouse?

There is a small amount of minimum information required to record a civil marriage in MLS:

• Last name (maiden name for a female)
• Marriage month and year

I have learned that you can enter any arbitrary month and year, and then after the marriage has been saved (but not transmitted), you can go back into the member's individual record, edit at the current spouse, and remove that date. The only field that is truly required is the last name of the spouse.

So it's possible to enter the spouse of John Doe as "Mrs. Doe", or of Jane Roe as "Mr. Roe" and MLS will allow it. The question then is if this technique introduces inaccuracy in the records. Clearly you should do all that you can to gather and record accurate information for membership records. But is it more accurate to leave a married person listed as single, or to provide a name for a spouse which is almost certainly wrong (but at least is obviously vague by the use of Mr. or Mrs.)? I don't know the answer to that, but in the absence of clear policy to the contrary I would think that a bishop could authorize such an action.

I have found that a phone call to the county clerk's office will often provide the details needed when ht/vt cannot get it.

aebrown wrote:I have learned that you can enter any arbitrary month and year, and then after the marriage has been saved (but not transmitted), you can go back into the member's individual record, edit at the current spouse, and remove that date. The only field that is truly required is the last name of the spouse.

How does it show on the on-line directory?

RussellHltn wrote:How does it show on the on-line directory?

I don't know for sure. I've never used the technique personally. My guess is that the spouse would show up with that limited name, just like it has been discussed in the thread remove nonmember spouse's name from online ward. Those who are considering this approach may want to include that point in their considerations.

rpyne wrote:I have found that a phone call to the county clerk's office will often provide the details needed when ht/vt cannot get it.

In the U.S. public records are commonly accessible. It may be different in Northern Ireland.