We live in a world that is becoming increasingly more automated and formalistic. Setting up and then accessing in person and on-line services is becoming increasingly more difficult. The rationale for this that is primarily given is to ensure that the right people can do the right thing for the right reason and to prevent the wrong people from doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason.
A significant motivator for having to provide private personal information such as your name; address; date of birth and sometimes additional information like a credit card number; bank account details and/or social insurance number is to ensure you are not a fraudster; scammer; or assisting with money laundering or terrorist financing or any combination of those things.
One of the many important things in this new Anti-money laundering (AML) anti-scamming; anti-fraud; Artificial Intelligence (AI); Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) world – what I sometimes call the “Anti-World” is your name. Layered onto this is the reality that there are more and more organizations in a greater number of circumstances that are being added to the list of those required to comply with AML and FINTRAC requirements.
Some things to know about names are:
- Names people use are not always the same as the name on any of their official government issue ID – like a Driver’s license; Passport; Birth Certificate; Marriage Certificate or Death Certificate;
- Names shown on one piece of official Government Issue ID may be different from the name shown on one or more other pieces of official Government Issue ID
- Even on ID mistakes are made to name spellings, for example. Sometimes first names are recorded as middle or last names. In some cases, the name of a person who comes from or came from another country, especially one where English is not the primary language, get mixed up or just plain misspelled. If you have an issue like this, I am not sure what steps you might be able to take to address the issue. At a minimum, you should be aware that the issue exists and if you know the reason for the issue, make note of it somewhere and be as specific with dates and institutions involved as you can.
- Name changes can happen by common usage when people get married and decide to start using the name of their spouse and sometimes in that case, a name on title to property or on a bank account might be the married name, but, might not match any official Government Issue ID
- Sometimes people use their middle name as though it was their first name. Sometimes important documents like a deed to property was prepared and registered years ago or a service was set up using the usual name and not a name that matches any ID a person has.
Why do names and ID matter?
- It is challenging and in some cases impossible to access some services like Legal Services; Real Estate Services; and Banking Services if you do not have official Government Issue ID with a photo that is unexpired and that is not a health card.
- Even if you have official Government Issue ID with a photo that is unexpired and has your legal name on it, if you did not use a name that matches the name on that ID exactly, it can take several weeks of time and additional steps that can take hours to complete the process to access services like My Account with CRA to access your own personal information on-line
- If a financial institution such as a credit card company; bank; or credit union; does not have your Social Insurance Number and satisfactory identification for you, they may and likely will freeze your account and may do so without notice; warning or explanation to you or anyone you are making payments to
- If the name of your substitute decision maker or makers who are the people you can name in a Power of Attorney for Property to look after your financial affairs if you cannot or just need help does not match their name as shown on their official Government Issue ID they may and likely will have to take additional steps including providing additional documentation or a statutory declaration to be able to help you. The same can happen in the case of the person you name as your Estate Trustee, also called Executor, or Trustee in your Will.
What does this mean for you and your loved ones?
It is important that you know what your own legal name is. It is important you are aware of what name you used when you set up existing services and if it does not match any name shown on any of your official Government Issue ID, consider editing your name so that it does. If you or your loved one does not have any official Government Issue ID that is unexpired and has a photo on it, get one as soon as possible. In Ontario, if you have lost your Driver’s Licence or never had one, you can get an Ontario ID Card. Contact Service Ontario for information about this.
To summarize:
Having names and official Government Issue ID that is unexpired and with a photo on it matters because it can affect your ability or that of a loved one to access services such as the ones described above. It can make regaining access to on-line services challenging. It can make helping a loved one challenging to impossible if you have name mismatches in any of a number of places or have no official Government Issue ID with a photo at all. If the only ID you have is a Health Card with a photo and that is unexpired that is often insufficient to allow you to access and use a large number of services because you will be unable to complete ID Verification requirements with the service. Taking steps now to address name and ID related issues can be a big help to getting and/or maintaining access to services and on-line accounts.
I am a lawyer in Manotick practicing as a solicitor. I have to verify the identity of clients and of their substitute decision makers as part of my work. My work includes estate planning. I think of having information about names including your own names and those of your loved ones as an important part of estate planning. It is also becoming more and more essential to function in day to day life.