Explaining the 110 Year Rule

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The 110 Year Rule for doing Temple ordinances for deceased ancestors is stated as follows:

To do ordinances for a deceased person who was born in the last 110 years, the following requirements must be met.

1. The person must have been deceased for at least one year.

1. You must either be one of the closest living relatives, or you must obtain permission from one of the closest living relatives. If you are not a spouse, child, parent, or sibling of the deceased, please obtain permission from one of the closest living relatives before doing the ordinances. The closest living relatives are an undivorced spouse (the spouse to whom the individual was married when he or she died), an adult child, a parent, or a brother or sister.

Verbal approval is acceptable. Family members should work together to determine when the ordinances will be done and who will do them.

Another statement on the subject in contained in the Member's Guide to Temple and Family History Work (2012) pp. 29-36. Here is an excerpt:

Before you perform ordinances for a deceased person born within the last 110 years, obtain permission from the closest living relative. Relatives may not want the ordinances performed or may want to perform the ordinances themselves. The closest living relatives are, in this order: a spouse, then children, then parents, then siblings.

One very serious complaint I frequently hear from family historians is the fact that their near relatives, fathers, mothers, grandparents etc., have their Temple ordinances done by people who they do not know and in some cases, cannot identify. Some people have had their own deceased children's ordinances done by non-family members. This can be an extremely traumatic occurrence for those who are just beginning to have an interest in family history. They go on the FamilySearch Family Tree program for the first time to try an do the ordinances for a parent, sibling or child and find that the ordinance were already done, sometimes within days of the date of the person's death. Violation of this rule is not just an inconvenience. It is a serious issue with the families who suffer the consequences of other's violation of the 110 Year Rule.

If a person desiring to do the ordinances asks the family member for permission and is denied, it is not excusable to "shop around" and try and find another family member who is willing to give permission. This is true even if the family members are not members of the Church. Just because the closest family members are not members of the Church does not relax or excuse the Rule. Here is a quote from the Brigham Young University, Religious Education course, Religion 261, Lesson 6:

• You may perform temple ordinances for deceased persons one year or more after the date of death without regard to the person’s worthiness or cause of death if you have permission from the closest living relative.
• 110 Year Rule: if a person was born within the last 110 years, you must receive permission to do the ordinances. You must receive permission from (in this order) a spouse, adult children, parents, and siblings. You cannot circumvent a family member if they have withheld permission. If none of these relatives are living, you still must wait until the individual was born more than 110 years ago in order to do their ordinances.
• Do not perform ordinances for people to whom you are not related (famous people, holocaust victims, and names from unauthorized extraction programs)

This Rule is fair to all concerned. It gives those who are seeking to do Temple ordinances for their immediate family members a chance and the opportunity to do those ordinances themselves.