Head of household Requirements

[harddrive]

I have a clerk who asked a good question.

What is the criteria for someone to be classified as head of house hold? I have a few people living with their parents and some are labeled as head of house hold and others are still children under their parents.

My feeling is if they are over 18 and out of high school, even if they are living with their parents.

Thanks for information.

[aebrown]

The requirements are simple. See "Head of Household" on page A-6 of the MLS Help Manual:

The head of a household should be the member to whom all the other household members are tied in the records. In MLS, the head of household is usually the husband or father, whether he is a member of the Church or not. In certain cases, the head of household may also be another member parent, a single member, or a member child whose parents are not members.

But the particular situation you are talking about is not covered by that definition -- using that definition you could answer either way. This has been discussed several times on this forum, and you'll find a diversity of opinion. The bottom line is that the bishop considers what will be best for the individual and family involved.

I personally don't think any hard and fast rule should be applied, but rather that inspiration and counseling together should guide the decision.

You may want to look at threads such as:

• When to Move Child Record to Head of Household
• What's the definition of "Household" in MLS?

[russellhltn]

In MLS, the head of household is usually the husband or father, whether he is a member of the Church or not.

That's interesting, since you can't make a non-member husband the HoH until you create a record for him, but page A-4 says "Create a nonmember record only when the nonmember is related to a member of your ward and you have the permission of the nonmember."

[aebrown]

That's interesting, since you can't make a non-member husband the HoH until you create a record for him, but page A-4 says "Create a nonmember record only when the nonmember is related to a member of your ward and you have the permission of the nonmember."

Those aren't inconsistent -- the reference on page A-6 does include the word "usually" and certainly doesn't say that you would make a nonmember father the HoH even if he has not given his permission for a nonmember record to be created. But it is good to note that when you are following the instructions for setting the HoH, if you think you would like to create a nonmember record, make sure that you are following those specific instructions as well.

[russellhltn]

I wouldn't say they are inconsistent, only that reading the first direction in isolation could lead someone to do something that violates the second directive. If that document was in the Wiki, I probably would have added a short sentence to follow procedure before adding a non-member HoH record.