Mom lost all forms of identification. What now?

If her wallet and ID were lost or taken from her outside the home, the first thing you need to do is file a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at IdentityTheft.gov. You can also call the FTC Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-438-4338. Then, contact one of the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on her credit records (Equifax: 1-888-766-0008). Her birth certificate should be filed in the county clerk's office where she was born. You'll likely have to pay more for an official copy with the county stamp, but that is what you will need to get a duplicate Social Security card for her. Usually have to go in person to a Federal Social Security office for that. I learned all this when my mom's purse was grabbed off a bench in a mall where she had been sitting. I cancelled all of her credit cards and never renewed them. I also took copies of her info, i.e. license, SS card, insurance card, and kept them in my purse for use at her doctor's office, hospital ERs, etc. The originals went into my locked filing cabinet.

I was able to get copies of my mother's documents using my POA, my photo ID, and in a couple of cases my birth certificate (proving I was her daughter).

I have a encrypted flash drive on my key chain with all my important documents (IDs, POAs, custody orders, etc) and I have them in a protected folder on Google drive so I can access them from my smart phone. As a techie, I consider this safer than having the physical documents in my purse. I'm terrible at remembering to place the latest proof of insurance in my car, but the cops accept the photo on my phone as proof the insurance is still current.

You should be able to get a certified copy of a birth certificate online, rather painlessly. Your own b/c shows your mother's name so this is a starting-place document to use.

My husband lost his Social Security Card and they wouldn’t replace it because his driver’s license was expired. Someone came to our home, took his picture and sent us a State I.d. Card. Then I was able to replace his SS card. You can also get a birth certificate copy online. It takes a while but it can be done.

Request a Social Security card replacement...then order birth certificate.
Then go to the DMV and get an ID card...

We have always been asked for ID, so I think it's important.

First do your own thorough search of her place for those items - I mean in the linen closet, between mattresses, behind furniture, EVERYWHERE - this could help - your mom may balk at this intrusion of her space so can you get someone else to take mom out while you do this

My mom with dementia successfully hid her birth certificate & social insurance card [ same is USA social security] for over 3 years in the NH - I found them long after I had to get them replaced -

When we cleaned out their home we found money in towels, bank statements under the shelf paper in the linen closet & we sent a dresser off to the auctioneer who found a package of 6 $50 bills [kudoos to his honesty] & we thought we had checked it out - if your mom is saying it was stolen then that could be an early sign of dementia where they hide things so they can't be stolen & forget but their mindset is for things to be stolen so when they can't find it then it is stolen

If she was baptized then try there first as that is semi-official & gives you something - I was able to get my mom's by applying to a gov't website - I asked for the 'long form' which has more info on it & while I was at it I also got a copy of her marriage certificate [long form] & my own birth certificate [long form] - these turned out to be handy when both mom & dad passed away as I needed them to complete some of the paperwork at the funeral home as here they now take the deceased person's parents names & where they were born as part of the record

So while you are at it try to get everything maybe a short version for her to have but keep a copy of everything for when not if you need it - you may need your grandparents names & some identify info on them to get those documents

When I went to the courthouse to file Emergency Guardianship papers, I thought, hey, I'm here, so I'll pick up copies of mthr's birth and marriage certificates for my daughters' American Heritage Girls family project! Little did I realize how convenient they would be later that day when my attorney said we needed to get her an ID from the DMV.

To get the forms, I did have to show my ID, but since I'm her daughter it was not a problem. It was a small fee.

The DMV wanted her SSN and we just had come from her CPA's office and had copies of old tax forms. A 1040 with SSN was allowable as proof of SSN.

When I came up to the examiner with the paperwork and he asked me what we were there for, I naturally said, "For an ID card." The agent practically whispered (and she's giving up her driver license?) and I replied, "Absolutely!" He was truly happy.

Eventually we ordered her a new SS card and changed her address everywhere to a Post Office Box, a very cheap form of finding out what is actually coming to her address. At the end of the year, every bank account and stock should send a tax form of some kind, and we were able to change her address with all of those in hand. She could not lose those documents if she never saw them. Yes, we had POA.

I think you live too far away from your mother to go to her home, don't you?

The thing is, I think possibly a lot of time and trouble might be saved if someone could go to her home and help look for these things. Even if her wallet had been stolen, it's not like she'd have been carrying her birth certificate around in it; and how did she identify her social security number? - presumably not from memory; and all in all I'd get a strong impression that these documents aren't so much lost as just out of sight, out of mind, and she doesn't know where to begin looking for them. It may well be that they're not at all hard to find.

I understand that you wouldn't want a complete stranger rootling around among her personal papers, but is there anybody trustworthy you could call on to go and have a quick look?

This is a good time to remind everyone that you should NEVER carry your Social Security card in your wallet. Put it in a safe place in your home, or a safe deposit box. Make a photocopy to keep in your paper files if you can't remember the number. You need your SSN when you open a bank account, borrow money, and file your taxes. It was not meant to be an identification card.

Ditto with your Medicare card, if it still has your SSN as your Medicare I.D. number.

And while we're at it, simplify the credit cards for your parents. My mother-in-law has ONE credit card, and a debit card for each of her two bank accounts. Would not be difficult to freeze/stop if she were to lose her wallet.

The real ID has been all over the news for months because of an issue with the CA DMVs failing to obtain the correct verifying documents. I am surprised people are just now hearing about the real ID, it was announced quite a while ago. It certainly won’t be a bad thing, that’s for sure. Those who are home bound or in a facility won’t need one unless they plan to board a plane. I just feel bad for the million people who have to go back to the DMV and go through the process AGAIN because their Real IDs are not federally compliant.