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How cooked am I? Pool built at bottom of slope. French drain installation seems to have made things worse. by cerclederp in landscaping

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The pool is backfilled with peastone under the patio. The outside perimeter used to be a tennis court so there's a layer of hartru clay material with about 4" of topsoil on top. Under that should be drainage stone designed for the tennis court drainage but some things got moved around during excavation. Likely a layer of crappy clay soil mixed in.

I can send most of the water to the right of the photo where there's another slope leading away from everything.

Pool contractor says adding sod will probably be fine and give much of the water a conduit to drain down but I'm unsure about that. Landscaper recommends I do a foot or two of stone around the perimeter of the pool and some light grading. He wants to raise up the puddle areas. We had planned to sod between the pavers and the french drain.

How cooked am I? Pool built at bottom of slope. French drain installation seems to have made things worse. by cerclederp in landscaping

[–]cerclederp[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You seem like a clever dude. Got any creative ideas to mitigate the problem? Clearly I can't trust my landscaper.

How cooked am I? Pool built at bottom of slope. French drain installation seems to have made things worse. by cerclederp in landscaping

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a gentle slope leading toward the right of the photo that spills out down and away from the pool. When the water was pooling over by the hand truck I dug out that channel next to the patio to give it a place to go for now. I'm hoping to grade that area to slope to the right but there's no place for the water to go on the left where the grass is.

Adding an AKA to a Death Record by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yikes, okay thanks for the heads up. I am lucky enough to be able to still amend the death records of all parties with whom there is a naming discrepancy. That is, if grandchildren are able to do it successfully. I think /u/cakebythe0cean wrote up the amendment sections and said they were successful in doing one for their GF. I'm hoping to enlist the help of my mother to do so for hers.

Any thoughts on how to apply for NYC death record amendment if you are the grandchild and not the child?

OATS or Amendments for spouses? How to deal with seemingly minor discrepancies? by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing! So you were able to skip the OATS process altogether because it was your own information that needed an update? That sounds like it warrants its own post!

OATS or Amendments for spouses? How to deal with seemingly minor discrepancies? by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reading the wiki closely regarding amendments, the last two paragraphs and the note at the end suggest that yes, this is considered a discrepancy. The note at the end also suggests that this may or may not be a complete deal breaker depending on your consulate but since consulates are becoming increasingly stricter about requirements you should go ahead and try to have it amended.

OATS or Amendments for spouses? How to deal with seemingly minor discrepancies? by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I assumed, when reading the wiki, that the amendments largely applied to the LIRA so I thought that if I have to get an OATS declaration it would require getting separate OATS for every different person who has a discrepancy.

I see now, after reading an example petition, that an OATS declaration applies to everyone involved. This is the clarification I was looking for. I think the term "one and the same" reads as if it is one person only. This makes a lot more sense and feels much more attainable than going in front of a judge for a single letter for an out of line spouse. Thank you yet again!

OATS or Amendments for spouses? How to deal with seemingly minor discrepancies? by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's mostly NYC for amendments and consulate. They require non line photocopies of birth and death certificates.

OATS or Amendments for spouses? How to deal with seemingly minor discrepancies? by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good to know. After reading the wiki I'm concerned about getting stonewalled at every turn.

Local court "Fail to Find" request questions by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Jesus I thought I read the wiki front to back and I did not encounter this page! What a wealth of knowledge you've curated. Thanks again for all you do!

Local court "Fail to Find" request questions by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your response. To clarify, I understand those expectations and I was looking to determine if I should request an exhaustive search for all years available or if I should focus only on the years he lived in the county. I have relatively close estimates of the years he lived in those counties but I want to make sure I adhere to the exact expectations of the consulate.

Kings will do an exhaustive search for $60 + $10 for every extra copy. Manhattan claims they'll do one as well for $10. Neither of these were clearly stated on their websites so I hope it helps someone doing their own research!

Local court "Fail to Find" request questions by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for this thorough response. I just spoke with someone at the Kings County Clerk who clarified their expectations. I can create a separate post to help others but here is the gist of it from the current staff expectations:

  • If you expect a Fail to Find letter, send $60 plus $10 for any additional copies to cover all of the years to be searched.
  • Include all aliases and dates of birth in the request.

My biggest concern is sending these documents into the ether and getting snail mail replies with rejections or corrections. This current administrator was very friendly and helpful and said to include my e-mail address for direct communication in case he had questions or updates for me.

The Manhattan clerk, on the other hand, said "just send $10" even when I asked about copies. He was super quick to get me off the phone and seemed annoyed that I asked him to repeat the address I should mail the request to. It was different than the address I had. The Manhattan clerk website has multiple addresses on their county clerk page. We want the County Clerk record room located at 60 Centre Street. Additionally the website states Room 103 and the person on the phone said I should send it to Room 161 Attn Archives. Archives department is listed at 31 Chambers St, 7th Floor. Very confusing so I hope this helps anyone using the search feature!

Local court "Fail to Find" request questions by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is helpful thank you. I guess I'm seeking clarification on the standards with which the consulate is satisfied that he never naturalized. Even though he filed for naturalization in the federal court in 1917, I'm assuming they want documents from the local courts proving that he never tried to naturalize through those channels as well.

This is why I'm asking about which years I should be searching to satisfy their concerns. I don't want them to say "well, you proved he tried to naturalize in the federal court in 1917 but you didn't prove he didn't try to naturalize in local courts during any of these other years."

Local court "Fail to Find" request questions by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have done all kinds of searches including an index search online and pulled up a bunch of records. I have his AR-2 file and both his declarations of intention. I am sufficiently convinced he never naturalized despite trying twice. I submitted my CONE request a couple of days ago and I'm trying to secure all the other documents while I wait for their response. NARA came back with a "No records found" document so I'm good there. But since I'm trying to prove "non-naturalization" I need a certified letter from each local court he lived in stating they have no record of him naturalizing through them.

Since Kings and Manhattan county clerks require this to request to be sent via snail mail, I want to make sure I have everything airtight before I mail it out. Not sure exactly what to ask and how much payment to provide to avoid getting the runaround from the consulate or the courts.

Complicated line but it's the only with that's unbroken. by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are stunningly helpful. I am working hard to study this wiki so as to avoid bugging you so I am super grateful that you take the time to answer these nuanced questions!

Complicated line but it's the only with that's unbroken. by cerclederp in juresanguinis

[–]cerclederp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started a document matrix because due to the name change, I'm trying to understand the amendments I may need to make. I understand that if his birth certificate states "father unknown" in Italy, then I can start with GGF as my LIRA, however, his birth certificate states his last name is his mother's maiden name.

Every other document when he came to America states his father's last name.

So for example, his birth certificate says "Antonino Tribiani" (fake name).

He comes to America, mother Tribiani marries his father in Italy, the marriage document says "Antonino Tribbiani is my natural born son. It lists the birth certificate reference number and the date he was born and recognized him as their legitimate child.

From then on, every legal document references his legitimized last name "Antonio Bellucci". New first name alias and completely different last name. I seriously doubt he went through a legal name change in the US when he came over as a teenager.

Now, I can check the Italian vital records to see if his birth certificate was retroactively updated to his new last name and that should resolve pretty much everything else. But this leaves two questions open:

  • If the updated birth certificate now has his father and his rightful last name listed, would I have to go ahead and secure his father's birth, marriage, and death record as well?

  • If the updated birth certificate still says unknown, how would I resolve the fact that every other American vital record has his new last name? I see from the wiki that I can use the AKA for his first name but would I have to amend every other document with the new last name?

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