Getting There....With Paperwork

Well, I can't believe how long it can take to update just a few documents. I realize we were given a list of 24 documents that the judge wants, but that was about 3 weeks ago. I still haven't collected them all. Last week was torture trying to get a couple of them. On Wednesday I called Ohio to see if they had sent my mortgage letter back apostilled. It seems that they LOST my document and were looking for it. However, I did receive our FBI background checks and the letters from Mass back. The car loan document came back from Nebraska as well. However, they DID NOT apostille it. It seems that whoever notarized the document doesn't know how to do her job and notarized it incorrectly so the Secretary of State's office refused to apostille it. The document was thus worthless. I called the Sec of State's office for explanation and got no where. They suggested I call Ford for a new document. After about 30 min on hold and bounced from one person to another, I was at wits end. I was then transfered to a nice guy in Florida who helped me. He said he would be able to write the letter and get it notarized correctly from Florida. I asked that he overnight it, and he said he would have to check with his supervisor. So, that was Wed.

On Thursday, I called Ford in Florida and they said the document was just noratirzed and put in UPS overnight. Thank goodness. That was happy news. Unfortunately, Ohio was not with our mortgage letter. When I called them, I was transfered to the administrator in charge of that area. It seems, whoever signed for the document on Tues decided to put it into the business office's mail, and they get a lot of mail. It was "misplaced" so she said. I told her she LOST it and asked what she thought I should do. She suggested I call Chase for a new mortgage letter. I said no becuase I had already spent $60 to get this one and FedEx it first to Franklin county for a county verification and then FedEx from there across town to the Sec of State's office, along with the two different fees. Besides, she would probably lose that one too. She had nothing else to say. I told her she better find my document because she had just ruined my Christmas and I not so nicely hung up on her. I was devistated. She called back about 10 minutes letter saying that she had sent 3-4 more people to search for the document and they had miraculously found it. Surprise, surprise. So, I finally got that document back on Friday. She is so lucky.

To update, right now I have 19 documents coming to me from Hartford, which should be all set, apostille and everything. The 2 Mass documents and the mortgage letter apostilled in Ohio are all done and copied. We are waiting on Florida to apostille the letter from Ford. That might be the document which holds us up. I have to call them and beg them to apostille it right away. The website says that it can take up to 5 business days. That would bring us past our Fri 12/12 deadline for the adoption agency. The last document, the letter verifying our CPA's license came on Friday. I will bring it to Hartford tomorrow to get apostilled and that will be all set. I am only worrying about this letter from Ford. I hope that they understand and apostille it right away. Even if they send it to me tomorrow, I will get it on Tues and the agency will get everything on Wed. I guess we need to wait and see, phone and beg someone for there understanding. Keep your fingers crossed......

Papers! Papers! Everywhere!

Well, we are making some headway on the updated paperwork trail. Of the 24 documents that the judge requested, I have 20 complete to the notary stage. Today I sent some of them off to be apostilled. An apostille is a state signature and stamp, from the secretary of state, that is necessary for all international documents. It simply guarantees that the notary who signed the document is a licensed notary for that specific state. Now comes the tricky part. Some of the documents have been notarized in different states. The verification of our social workers' licenses came from Mass, since our agency is headquartered in Mass. So today I sent those two papers to be apostilled in Mass. Our car loan document was signed and notarized in Nebraska so that was sent back to Nebraska today for an apostille. Our mortgage loan document signed in Ohio was shipped out last week to Ohio for apostille but was sent back. It seems that Ohio requires first a county verification on the notary and then the apostille. So that was sent out to Franklin County Court on Fri. From there they have the FedEx slip to send it to the Secretary of State (in the same town no less). Then they will send it back to me. What a mess. I have too many FedEx tracking numbers...Now I have lost track of which tracking number is which! Ugh!

Anyway, once I have the FBI background checks back and the letter from the CPA, I will send the remaining letters to Hartford for apostille. Then we will only be waiting for the state to verify the CPA's license. Not sure why but I can't have the state verify his license before I have his letter. His letter needs to be dated before the state's letter. What a mess. We are hoping to have everything done and sent to the agency next week. They asked for it by the 12th. Hopefully all the apostilles will not hold us up. Keep your fingers crossed for us!