I am helping someone with their request to have their name removed from the records of the Church. A couple of quick questions. This person tried to do this a few years back, but the Stake President at the time had rejected her request and refused to process it.

Question 1: Isn't that illegal? if it is illegal, I would like to include mention of that in this letter that I am writing for them

Question 2: This person has a child who was baptized and whose name they wish to have removed. They were told that the child needed to request name removal and that she could not do it on behalf of their own child who is still a minor. That doesn't sound right to me. Can anyone confirm one way or the other?

Thanks for your help.

Yes they were wrong to deny the request. Legal precedent has been set in these matter. Yes it is legal for the Parent to include their child in the same name removal request.

You can also go here for info.

http://www.exmormon.org/remove.htm
or here:
http://www.lds-mormon.com/name_removal.shtml

Today Email even works when done properly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2015 05:16PM by AmIDarkNow?.

email SLC for this request. They'll send it to the bishop as it's a local matter (so they say)....but they'll get it done.

I've heard directly from bishops who have refused to pass along a request to remove somebody....they believe the person wasn't serious.

If it comes from the top down, they line up pretty quick and make it happen.

She needs to RESIGN. There is a legal difference. It doesn't have to be long, it doesn't have to be detailed, she does NOT have to give any explanations. It does have to include enough information to identify. I suggest she have it notarized then send it registered mail to
Member Records
50 E North Temple, Room 1372
SLC UT 84150-5310

Make sure you request proof of delivery. As soon as they receive it, she is OUT. Yes, they will forward it to the local idiots but that is just a matter of them pushing their own paper. You get a lame pamphlet and then a final letter. IF there is any problem with the locals you call SLC and raise hell. Done this way they CAN'T refuse to process her request, she is already out :)

Certified mail is a waste of time in line and money. A simple stamp is fine. The pamphlet and letter saying it is a local matter is all the receipt needed that they received the resignation. Do send the resignation to Member Records in SLC, not the local boys.

Notarizing is a waste of a little bit of time, but it is free, so there's that. It doesn't really seem to keep them from contacting you. Contact seems to be hit or miss, whatever you do or don't do.

Email also works fine, though it is neither certified or notarized. That's additional proof that neither is necessary.

Resigning is not that hard. Straightening out a garbled cable bill is a much bigger challenge.

Ten years ago, when I resigned, email resignation was unheard-of.

I sent copies of my letter to the bishop, the stake president, and good old Greg Dodge in SLC. I sent all three with a request for proof of receipt. I got all three confirmations back. It was worth it.

Like so many others here, despite requesting "no further contact," I got a phone call from the bishop, and I'm afraid I was so strung out on nerves that I was rather harsh with him, but he got the message, loud and clear, and before long, I got the longed-for "you're outta here!" letter.

It never hurts to hedge your bets. And when you say, "I hereby resign and am no longer a member of your church," you aren't asking them for permission. You are stating facts. It's a done deal. They don't like it, but the law backs it up.

Go for it!

When the local idget showed up at the door saying he was MY bishop with his chest all puffed out like I would care. It had been pretty much 30 years since I had set foot in a ward house and never one in this state! Also, I KNEW my rights and thought someone should teach HIM ;). Mind you, he was standing there with my NOTARIZED letter in his hand. Often shaking it at me for some odd reason. When he said he HAD to show up at my door to make sure it was me I laughed in his face, told him that I knew what the CHI said (I think that is about when he started turning purple) and asked him if he knew what notarized was. Gee, for some reason he didn't seem to care for that comment!

Amen to that. RESIGNATION, not "having one's name removed." And it's important to note that you NEVER do it locally. As soon as a person's letter to the church is postmarked, that person is legally out of the church. But the church still goes through an exercise to tell your bishop and give you a 30-day cooling down period. If you waive this period in your carefully worded letter (example included on this website), you will be out of the church without much fuss.

and Remember:

they NEVER (completely) 'remove' your name or info from THEIR RECORDS; they just move the info to a different file (titled Ex-communicated) and tell you that you need to come back/be re-baptized, do your 'ordinances' (H.G., Sealing, etc) over again.

If they truely removed your name from their records, you could come back by getting taught and baptised by the missionaries, any time and no one would be the wiser. But we all know that could never happen. Your name never really gets removed from the church records. They just categorize you differently than they did before you resigned. It's like the Hotel California. You can check out any time. But you can never leave.

The reason that you want to do it through Membership Records in SLC is that they will provide oversight of the process. That way if the local bishop and SP sit on or "deny" the request, the MR department will follow up and make sure it gets done.

Resign your minor child along with yourself and have her sign your letter. That should do the trick.