This might sound strange...

[Dizzilizzi]

Jurisdiction

Pennsylvania

Okay so my father obtained a birth certificate for me when I was 16 ( the original was lost) so I could get a state ID and then demanded to keep it... I am now 21 and I got it from him to get my license. He is now demanding that I give it back to him. I'm trying to figure out if he has any legal ownership of it or if it is mine to keep now as an adult. This maye be an odd question, but he is not a stable individual, and I can't find any definitive information.

 

[army judge]

Okay so my father obtained a birth certificate for me when I was 16 ( the original was lost) so I could get a state ID and then demanded to keep it... I am now 21 and I got it from him to get my license. He is now demanding that I give it back to him. I'm trying to figure out if he has any legal ownership of it or if it is mine to keep now as an adult. This maye be an odd question, but he is not a stable individual, and I can't find any definitive information.

Make him a copy, you keep the original, better yet you keep the copy.
Then you contact the agency that issued your birth certificate and obtain a CERTIFIED copy for your records.

 

[adjusterjack]

If you are still living with your father and are dependent upon him for anything, then I agree with Army judge that you photocopy the birth certificate and give the original back to your father. Then go get a certified copy for yourself.

If you have already left home and are completely self supporting and not dependent on your unstable father for anything then you are free to tell him no and keep the one you have. Though it might be wise to do it the other way just to keep the peace. You never know when you will need him.

 

[mightymoose]

He can demand all he wants. You don't have to give him anything.

 

[michael zwingli]

If it will promote peace between the two of you, just return it to him. Why he wants to have it is anybody's guess, but it might be that he considers it his property because he paid the fee to the town/city clerk for obtaining it. So be it...the copy in question of your birth record is, apart from the negligible cost incurred to obtain it, virtually meaningless. You should remember that a birth certificate is a public record. Anybody, including myself or the "town drunk" has a legal right to obtain a copy of your birth certificate, and may do so if he has your name and place of birth. Such is the nature of a public record. For a few buck each you can obtain, in the municipal clerk's office of the jurisdiction within which you were born, as many certified or uncertified copies of your birth certificate that you need. Please don't let this become an (or an additional) issue disruptive to the relationship between yourself and your father.

 

[army judge]

Don't respond to old threads.