No Parent's Signature on Birth Cert
Tldr: Friend's deceased parent didn't sign her birth certificate, friend only found out years later.
Happened in the late 90s, it's still a problem now.
Friend has his surname and he IS friend's dad, the adults just completely forgot to get his signature. Then apparently, another relative decided to forgo the hassle of getting his signature, and just processed friend's papers using a fake BC throughout her life.
Her school papers and all other official documents bear HIS surname. But she learned wayy after college grad and long past his death that the birth cert her relative used for requirements is not real. Legally, she's supposed to use her mother's maiden surname instead.
She tried fixing the problem as soon as she found out, especially since there are a LOT of things she can't do without a legitimate birth certificate (get a passport, own properties, etc).
Going through lawyers will cost her an estimate of 200k. She tried processing through "someone who knows how to fix these kinds of problems", but even that person couldn't make it work because "there's no strong evidence that he ever claimed her as his child".
Now, the only option we know right now is if she ultimately decides to carry her mother's surname (or get married). She'll have to go to all relevant institutions to recitify the issue, and bring an affidavit proving she's one and the same person.
Hopefully that works, but she's afraid of getting accused of intentionally falsifying documents.
Note: Her relative was the one who processed all enrollment papers (we were minors during our college years). Then govt agencies participated in a job fair at our school where they only required students to fill out application forms, no other documents needed. That's why she's an SSS member despite not having a legitimate birth certificate that matches her name.
Are there any other options for her? And what will happen if she goes through with submitting an affidavit to change her existing info (diploma, bank, SSS, etc)? Will she get penalized for this, despite not being the one who falsified papers?