Why a scan is not a certified copy

A certified copy is the one the vital records office issues. It is not a JPEG from your camera roll, not a PDF email, and not a copier print of the funeral home's file. Some offices print on security paper with a registrar seal. A scan of that page is still a scan. USA.gov tells you to buy a certified copy to notify Social Security and other agencies, to close or transfer bank and credit accounts, and to claim life insurance or a pension. A photocopy may be enough to cancel a magazine. The agency holding the account decides, not this desk.

Before you put a copy in the mail

• Ask whether they keep the paper or will return it. Some banks keep the certified copy.
• Ask whether they will take a scan this year. Some insurers do. Many DMVs and title offices still want the sealed copy.
• If they keep it, that copy is spent. Order extras on the first request so you are not waiting on a second printing.
• Do not mail the last certified copy you have until you know it will come back, or until you have another one on the way.

This directory's certified-versus-informational guide covers states that sell an uncertified print. That print is also not the bank's document. This desk does not give legal advice and does not tell any agency what to accept.