My friend had to rescue an elderly relative in another state from a dangerous and insecure situation. She had no financial or legal records with her. The family needs to figure out her financial situation, recover legal documents like the deed to her home, etc. They don't even have her social security number. She has dementia and can't help. Any suggestions about where to start?
But first, your friend needs to get proof of the relatives identity. And if they know who the person with all the paperwork is, she may have to take legal action to get the paperwork. Hopefully nothing has been changed, the relatives name is still on the deed to the house and the financial accounts are in her name.
Does the friend have a government issued ID? Such as a drivers license or passport.
For her birth certificate, your friend should try to find out where she was born. If the friend cannot remember, there are sites like ancestry that can provide info. She’ll need to know what county because that is where she’ll go to get a new birth certificate. Some counties will let you do it by mail or online. My county for example will let you submit the request online BUT you have to go down in person with a government issued ID to get the actual birth certificate.
To get a new SS card she will have to go down in person since you don’t have the information required to do it online. And SS will need all original documents-a current government issued photo ID.
Without identifying documents, I don’t think the financial institutes will be willing to give anyone information or access to her accounts.