Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I recently discovered evidence that a loved-one has been ghosting an identity (living under a false identity of a deceased person) for the last 30 years. I have not confronted this peson. I have no idea who this person was or if this person had a criminal background. This person currently does not have a criminal background under this false identity. I have a copy of the birth certificate that this person uses and I recently found this same person's death certificate from the 1970s. Both documents are from a different state than this person's 30-year residence. This person has married, has children, pays a mortgage, and pays taxes.

My questions:

1. What are my legal obligations to turn in these public records to authorities?

2. Since this person lived their entire falsified life in a different state than the documents' origin, which state jurisdiction does this fall under? Could this be a federal crime?

3. What are the probable minimum and maximum punishments for this crime? Since the stolen identity is of a deceased person, is this a victimless crime?


Asked on 3/03/14, 12:22 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

First of all, how sure are you that your loved one isn't who he claims to be? The death record you saw could belong to someone who had the same name. Or it could be incorrect. You should look into these possibilities if you haven't already.

Even if you're right, I don't think you have a duty to turn him in or to show anyone what you've found. But you probably have a duty not to vouch for his identity now that you know it's false.

Living under a false identity isn't necessarily a crime in its own right. But it would be hard to do without committing a variety of other crimes along the way. Your loved one may also be trying to hide from the law, if he's wanted for crimes he committed under a different name. It's also possible that he has less sinister reasons for assuming a new identity.

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Answered on 3/03/14, 2:31 pm
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

I'm going to intentionally be a little offensive here, but what on earth makes you think you have any right to meddle and intrude on this person's privacy just because of some relationship to him, or to slander him as being a criminal if you 'report' him?? You already admit he "does not have a criminal background" in this identity, and lives an apparently blameless life.

You have not stated what credible evidence exists to support your conclusion that his is a 'false' identity, other than your conclusion. Even if true, so what?

What on earth makes you think using a name of his own choosing is a crime??

Even if this is a false identity, who told you there is any terrible crime in doing so, or any crime that induced him to do this 30 years ago? Even if there was a long ago crime, the statute of limitations ran out decades ago, unless the crime he committed was murder. If that is the crime, then report away if you choose and if you think this is the moral thing to do.

You have no legal 'right' to meddle, nor legal 'obligation' to report people to authorities - people who apparently have not harmed you or anyone else.

Telling in your post is that you haven't even demonstrated the courtesy of giving this person the opportunity to admit, deny, or explain before you run off and possibly damage his life.

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Answered on 3/03/14, 3:42 pm


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