Why? If you don’t want to go with the basic premise of “How would you rebuild your life if all your I.D. was destroyed?”, then why bother posting at all?
Look at Skald’s threads. It’s tradition. 
I was born in DC so I can get a copy of my birth certificate in a day. They didn’t require ID when I went a few months ago to get a certified copy.I got my Virginia Driver’s license recently as well so my picture matches.
Interesting. What did they require for each?
I would have really no idea how to even start. All ID is built on each other. Now I keep my naturalization certificate in the bank, along with my passport, and nearly everything is built on those two documents, but assuming those were gone, too, I don’t know where to start. I don’t have a birth certificate.
Looking on the naturalization webpage looks like I can get a new one with two new photos and some documentation on why I need them; i.e., proof of the fire. So I guess I’d start there and work my way down. DMV should be able to reissue something, too.
I’d have to go to the DMV in person, though, since I don’t have any of the normal proofs of who I am. I’d probably bring some bill statements? Maybe a copy of a check? And I’m sure it would be a huge hassle.
Now if I could wait until the naturalization certificate came in, that might work!
Just as a data point: in Scotland to get a replacement birth certificate you just need to know your own basic details. They are kind of/sort of public documents so anyone can order a copy of someone else’s birth certificate (also marriage and death ones). Handy for genealogists and assassins both.
Same thing for the province I checked in Canada. If your name doesn’t match the name on the certificate, they do require that you fill out paperwork explaining why you want it.
My order would be:
- Debit + Credit card
- Birth Certificate
- Driver’s license
- Health insurance card
- Other id (passport, social insurance card, etc) as required.
I’ve just ordered replacement birth certificates and SS card within the past two weeks. The birth certificate was relatively easy. I downloaded the request form from the state website then just filled it in and had it notarized before dropping it in the mail. I had an advantage there in that the notary and I know each other, I would probably have needed photo ID if that weren’t the case. So for the OP hypothetical I would have gone by the DMV first and had them issue a replacement driver’s license. Ordering a replacement SS card required that I go to the local office and be face to face with a rep. Photo ID is a must for that process.
From there I would head to the passport office when I received the replacement birth certificate and get that taken care of. Once I had the driver’s license in hand, the debit card should be a quick stop. Replacement credit cards can be requested from the issuing bank website or by calling the customer service number listed on the websites if you have never signed up online.
Did you have to show any I.D. to have it notarized, or was a signature sufficient?
Hmm. Birth certificate is going to be tough, as I’ll need a notarized form and a notary will require ID.
Without that, I’m screwed. You need a birth certificate for basically everything. I’m either going to have to find a crooked notary or fly to California.
When I needed to get a birth certificate to prove my age for retirement, I wrote to Harrisburg and gave them my date of birth, my name at birth, my parents names and, for good measure, the hospital I was born in. They asked me to send a check for $6 (I think it was). No notarization needed, really nothing. But they also said that if I could send them evidence that I had used my current name for at least ten years, they would even issue a certificate in the name I used! So I did and got a BC is a week or so. This was in 1999; I don’t know if they would do it today.
They know me at the bank. I go in semi-regularly to pay my estimated taxes, driver’s licence fee, licence plate fee (I could probably do them online). They know me well. So getting a new CC would be no problem. They DMV has my photo and would issue me a new licence and also a health card since they do that too. I guess I could get it at least a temporary certificate the same day. Of course, there might be a problem getting there. I have at least one other CC I like to keep. They could of course use the old address and I would file a forwarding request at the post office. Although they might want me to show ID for that. But the local PO would know about the fire. It would be a nuisance, but nothing insuperable. I would apply for a new passport and simply explain that the old one had burnt. With a BC, shouldn’t be a problem.
Relatively easy. Birth certificate would be a day or so. So would Drivers License. Bank cards, too. Sure they will send it to the address on file, but you can still check the mail there, or have it held at the post office, and pick it up in person, or even forwarded to an alternate address (P.O. Box, close relative, etc.)
Social Security card I wouldn’t even bother. I haven’t had one for over ten years. Same with passport. I don’t have one at the moment, so I wouldn’t bother.
So all in all, I’d say 7 to 10 days.
Some people have said the notary knows them. I could do that. I know a couple of notaries. That being said, I suppose my SO could vouch for who I am.
Isn’t any sort of verification asked for when requesting any of these documents?
Bank cards and credit cards would be easy. Call 'em up, say that they’re lost and they’ll mail me new ones. Even if my house burned down, the mailbox is across the street. Even if THAT burned down, it’s not as though I can’t put up a new mail box. The only time I get asked for ID to use a credit/bank card is when they check for a signature and one isn’t there. So I’ll just sign the cards.
I could presumably get the mortgage company to send me copies of the records to help prove residency. My utility statements are online and easy to print off a copy of the most recent.
The Social Security office, per their website, seems to be flexible in what documentation they’ll accept if you are unable to provide the preferred stuff such as employee ID cards, health insurance cards, etc. And I think that’s really the key – I’ll just need to call offices and explain what happened and ask what advice they can provide or flexibility they can afford.
The notary is a friend of mine, otherwise I would have had to have photo ID.
So, legally, you would have been out of luck? 
In TN you can order a replacement driver’s license online if you know your number, which I do. So first I’d go to the library, use their computers and log into the state’s DMV and order a new one and print a temporary one. Presumably my mailbox hasn’t been magically destroyed, too. But if it has, all I’d need to do would be to stop at the small post office in my tiny village and ask them to hold my mail and I’ll pick it up. They know me. I also have my logins and passwords memorized for my bank, so I’d go on and request a new debit card online. I’ve done that before. I might be able to convince the local branch to allow me to make a withdrawal before the card is received, otherwise I’d have to wait until my DL arrives in the mail. Order new voter’s registration, SS card, etc. All my regular bills are auto-debited from my checking account, so that would continue. Next stop would be to my insurance agent, who knows me by sight. I’d see if there’s any way they could front me some money while waiting for the check for my house. The hard thing would be finding some place to live that would accept my 6 large dogs and 4 cats. My neighbors would feed the horses for me until my house was rebuilt. For that matter, my next door neighbor is a cop, and he could vouch for me at the bank.
I think my first stop, providing my family is also magically destroyed and can’t help me, is my parish. I’d ask the priest for a loan to see me through a week until I could access my own money. I don’t think there’d be a problem getting that from the parish emergency fund.
StG
The purpose of the notary is to acknowledge that the signature is legitimate. If the notary already knows you and can make that acknowledgement, they’re filling their role. The notary at the currency exchange would need to check your ID because they don’t know you.
I’m a notary as is our office admin at work. We notarize one another’s stuff all the time (that’s why there’s two of us registered as notaries). Obviously we don’t demand ID from one another each time because we already positively know who the other person is when notarizing their signature.