Merging two membership records

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
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dbell86
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Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:04 pm

Merging two membership records

#1

Post by dbell86 »

So I've got an interesting problem with my membership records. I've got two members with records, call them Bill and Jane. On Bill's record, Jane is listed as Bill's spouse. But on Jane's record, the marriage hasn't been recorded. Meaning Bill's spouse Jane and Jane herself aren't connected as being the same person in the system. I can't add Bill as Jane's spouse on her record because he's listed as already married. Is there any way to correct this?
russellhltn
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Re: Merging two membership records

#2

Post by russellhltn »

dbell86 wrote:On Bill's record, Jane is listed as Bill's spouse.
Member spouse or non-member spouse? Check for any clues that suggest Bill is linked to a duplicate copy of Jane's record.

It might be worth calling Local Unit Support to see what they can see.
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aebrown
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Re: Merging two membership records

#3

Post by aebrown »

dbell86 wrote:Meaning Bill's spouse Jane and Jane herself aren't connected as being the same person in the system.
It's not necessarily true that there are two separate records, so I'd be careful about assuming that this is the problem. Each person's record is separate, and the marriage information recorded is separate. When you record marriage information in MLS, the software tries to make sure that the corresponding information is entered on both records, but something might have gone wrong in that recording process back when the marriage was recorded. So it could be that Bill's record correctly recorded Jane as his spouse, but Jane's record simply didn't get Bill recorded in her spouse information. It still could be the case that there is only one record for Jane. If that were the case, it might work to remove the spouse information on Bill's record and then record the marriage.

You said that these were members, but you didn't mention whether the marriage was a temple marriage. That could be a further complication, since such marriages are recorded by the temple department, not by a clerk. But in any case, it would be good to involve Support in this before you take any action because it is an unusual situation.
eblood66
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Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:17 am
Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Merging two membership records

#4

Post by eblood66 »

dbell86 wrote:So I've got an interesting problem with my membership records. I've got two members with records, call them Bill and Jane. On Bill's record, Jane is listed as Bill's spouse. But on Jane's record, the marriage hasn't been recorded. Meaning Bill's spouse Jane and Jane herself aren't connected as being the same person in the system. I can't add Bill as Jane's spouse on her record because he's listed as already married. Is there any way to correct this?
As aebrown said, if this is a temple marriage then you may want to call support. However, otherwise you may want to try re-recording the marriage on Bill's side. I don't have the test install available right now but I tried this in the past and it did work if done on the side where the marriage had already been recorded.
scgallafent
Church Employee
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Location: Riverton, Utah

Re: Merging two membership records

#5

Post by scgallafent »

russellhltn wrote:
dbell86 wrote:On Bill's record, Jane is listed as Bill's spouse.
Member spouse or non-member spouse? Check for any clues that suggest Bill is linked to a duplicate copy of Jane's record.
Here are a few things to look for in MLS:
  • Is there more than one record for Jane in the MLS member list (Membership Records > Individual Records)
  • When you look at Bill's record, is Jane's name a clickable blue link or is it black?
  • When you look at Bill's record, does it have Jane's MRN listed with the spouse information?
dbell86
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Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:04 pm

Re: Merging two membership records

#6

Post by dbell86 »

Additional details in response to the questions:
  • Both of them are members
  • This is not a temple marriage
  • Her MRN is the same in both instances
  • On his, she is a clickable blue link
So it looks like it's not an instance of two separate records for her, just that it got correctly recorded for his record but not on her record. I'll contact Support on this. Thanks for your help everyone!
russellhltn
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Re: Merging two membership records

#7

Post by russellhltn »

For kicks and grins, do a unit refresh. It might just fix it.

Because at this point it sounds like everything is recorded properly, but somehow you still have a stale (old) copy of her record. A refresh might solve that.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
drepouille
Senior Member
Posts: 2859
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:06 pm
Location: Plattsmouth, NE

Re: Merging two membership records

#8

Post by drepouille »

I would be interested to know if this same issue appears on LCR for these two members. If the marriage is recorded on LCR, but not MLS, then a refresh is in order.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
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