My mom’s driver's license expires soon. She has dementia. Will she need an ID?

She should probably have just a state ID card and that would do for identification. She needs to know that this is NOT a driver's license.

My old client hadn't driven for years, but she did get a state ID which she needed sometimes to cash a check or show ID.

Aa far as I know, a US passport can be used anywhere for an ID, so if she has a passport, she may need no other. That would save you from traipsing her to the DMV office where both DLs and state IDs are issued, which might be confusing to her.

I brought my mom to the DMV to get her a senior ID. Some doctors offices will ask for an ID and if your mom needs to fly or go to a courthouse she will need it. I never expected my mom would need one, but she did when I moved to a different state and brought her with me. Just remember to take all of the proper items to the DMV needs like bills with her address and sometimes an original SS card

Hey MamaBearlyThere,

My name is Emma and I am an Alzheimer’s Dementia specialized caregiver and although I live in Washington state and ID requirements may be different I have found with my patients until they are at later stages it is important to still have identification. I just had my newest patients renew their passports and ID cards for identification purposes even though one of their dementias is progressing and the other may stop driving soon.

Again don’t take my word for it as I am in another state but the need for an ID has remained with my patients until late stages when the POA takes over most of the work to present ID and personal information when it is needed.

i hope this helps in your decision making process!

best
Em

I was able to get my mom a CA ID online during the pandemic. It may still be an option. She has needed ID a few times already: to get a disabled parking permit (for me to park when taking her to appointments), to get a covid vaccine, to request certain documents from Social Security and for a replacement Medicare card. These are just few examples when your mom may need ID.

In my State the number of your license will be the number on the ID. I would get her an ID. She will probably need to be present.

In 2017 my moms was up for renewal, the DMV required a highway road test (of all things) to renew. She drove fine but decided to surrender her DL & get a Fl ID card. If she's still listed as a driver on the insurance you might want to let them know.

Yes, she needs an ID.

She should get that ID. Don't know if you have everything in place in so far as wills, POAs and so on,but she may in future need an ID. Simple for you to accompany her to DMV, turn in her license and get senior ID for her and they last longer than the average license.

Yes. Get her a legal ID of some kind. Passport or state ID. She will need it.

If at all possible, have both of them get a State issued permanent ID.

if hers hasn’t yet expired try to go online and have it renewed as a Permanent ID.

If that doesn’t work, just how does your State do drivers licenses? Like you go online and schedule an appointment? If so see if they have special hours for those over 65 or handicapped and schedule that.

if it’s old school wait in line situation & the bureau does other auto stuff as well, so it’s beyond busy, I’d suggest that you go the day before with a xerox of both their licenses & your POA and tell them the situation. I bet they will give you the paperwork and a time to take them both and as a speed pass. That what I did for my mom. Under an hour all in, easy peasy. Having a permanent ID will come in handy.

Good luck!

Yes, she must have ID! Essential when you take her to dr. visits, hospitalization, care center, airplanes. The REAL ID requires a certified birth certificate from the state they were born in--you order and pay for it online, but it can take weeks to arrive. For a woman, you also must show documentation for every name change, which usually means you must get a state certified marriage certificate for each of her marriages, to show her name changes from maiden name to married name. Again, you might order and pay for it online, but it can take weeks to arrive.

Your mother is no longer safe to drive, so she can replace her drivers license with a senior citizen photo ID. Look into the REAL ID if her license is not one. What is your father's health condition? He can also get the REAL ID for a new driver license or REAL photo ID to replace what he has.

Yes, she will need an id. When I filed moms taxes last year, it asked for a number from a state issued id. She hadn't had one in ten years so I had to gather all of her information and take her to the BMV to get a state issues ID card. My mom asked me in front of the clerk which name she should use. LOL I said, the only one you've got!

I have been playing this game for years. When my wife’s license expiried at 60 something she did not want to renew it ( dmv phobia). She still drove but her ms was making it harder for her to walk. Last time she drove me I was scared. I told her no more. Now at 79 she is bed bound an will never drive. For a while we used her passport for id but she let that expire too. The only time she has been asked for a photo id is on occasion at a doctor they usually accept the expired license. So it has been over 15 years with out a valid photo id. At this point in time I do not know how really necessary it is but it would probably be a good thing to get.

You may be able to take the old license to DMV and replace it with an ID that looks exactly like the old one, but has notice of some kind, holes across the top or some such markings, that is used for ID only. I did this in Idaho when my DH finally got the idea that he was going to be chauffeured from now on! He never noticed the difference, and I breathed a lot easier!

On a side note, I also contacted my local election board and had his name taken off the voting rolls. He was so proud of his vote and would have been devastated if he thought someone else might vote in his place, even me!

You will need a POA or other documentation that you have the authority to do these things. Best of luck to you, and God bless.

Get her a state ID which is similar in appearance to a driver's license. It helps whenever you need to show an official picture ID for her. You can get this as the DMV.

@MamBearlyThere,

I strongly recommend you get your mother Real ID.

In my state the elderly are entitled to get their Real ID and/or renew driver’s license on-line or by mail rather than being forced to show up in person at DMV due to ongoing Covid restrictions, and I just looked to refresh my memory but even if the elderly’s DL expired March 2020 or thereafter, they can get a renewal. Yes, I read it repeatedly on our DMV website.

So in your state, too, you may be in luck to easily get mother Real ID without her needing to physically show up at DMV.

And to avoid unnecessary kerfuffle, get your father’s DL or switch it to Real ID before his renewal date,

You need to check CAREFULLY the Department of Motor Vehicles website for your parents’ state. Rules vary by state. And if you cannot determine the answer from the website, phone your state’s DMV, and if the person who takes your call can’t answer firmly and with assurance, thank them, call back and speak with another representative until someone can answer and point you to where on the website the information resides, so that if your local DMV balks, you have proof on the state DMV website. I only caution because I, on behalf of our elderly loved one was given wrong info that caused enormous difficulty, then when we got an in-person appointment with first availability 6 weeks later and brought in the bundles of proof necessary including bills (invoices) in her own name which was nigh on to impossible, then stood in line for 45 minutes even with confirmed appointment time, the minute we got to the window the representative said “why did you bring all this stuff and come in, in-person? This could’ve been done on-line or by mail due to ongoing Covid rules”. I honestly thought I was going to pass out. I was so angry I actually tracked down our state’s head honcho of DMV (with great difficulty) and gave him a voicemail telling calmly but forcefully of my utter disdain and disgust for the runaround we received, and bore eyewitness to the fruitless chaos of our local DMV and names of those who gave us incorrect info along the way. I got a stilted phone call of apology from his PA.

Anyway, to make a long story even longer, I stress that yes, having a valid ID card is wise, and try to get it on-line or by mail if your state allows. Don’t forget to get your father’s license renewed before it expires, or if he should no longer drive, switch it for Real ID before the DL expires. Maybe you can handle both parents’ card renewals at same time.

Good luck.

Yes. Get an ID card.
Otherwise, what other non-expired ID does she have?
It is needed for a lot - legal affairs, medical needs.
Certainly, it is better to have and not need it . . . than to not have and need it!

Gena Galenski / Touch Matters

I would be careful about getting the id.

my MIL’s driver’s license expired last November on her birthday. She had been in AL 8 months & was very angry that she was there. She couldn’t live on her own. Her house was a hoarder house & smelled like a sewer because it was falling apart around her and her teacup yorkie peed and pooped through the entire house since she never left the house. She thought the house was haunted after husband died. She would become lost if trying to go to the grocery store. She couldn’t clean her house or pay her bills. She was supposed to be the executor for her husband ‘s estate but gave it up to her son because it was too hard for her. She moved to a hotel and then to her sister’s. Her nephew insisted that she move out or he would have the police remove her and that was why AL.

We did not take her to get a real id. It would not have been good to take her to the DMV. She would have insisted on not returning to AL and she couldn’t live with us with her dog. I told her that her dog couldn’t come with her. We also told her the rules would be too strict - adult day care during the day, no uncontrolled shopping, limited tv watching and her room would have to remain clean and she would have to shower at least 3 to 4 times a week. She would also have to have regular dr visits.

Instead doctors come to her, she keeps her dog, she can watch tv all day, but she can’t purchase like she used to and she can no longer call the police every day to report her delusions that people are trying to rape her or attack her or steal or kill her dog.

I don’t think your mother is in the same situation. A real ID might work. My MIL doesn’t need an ID.

A regular state ID card will be fine for doctors appointments, prescription pickups, or voting, but if you take her on a flight after next May she will need a “real ID” or a passport. I got my mom a real ID this spring, since her passport had expired. Check with your state DMV for what is required, I had to collect a few documents, including a copy of her marriage license from PA, which took some time. The DMV folks were very kind and helpful, though, took us to the front of the line and found her a chair to sit while they worked, not many 96 year olds come through.

She won't, if she can no longer drive. I would keep it around for ID.

MamaBearlyThere: Let me share with you what happened when it was time to get power of attorney for my legally blind late mother. I had made the appointment with the notary public, who happened to be a friend of mine and my mother's, fortunately. We arrive at his office and it was time for my mother to pull out her ID. It was then that the gentleman said "N, this ID from the Department of Motor Vehicles has expired." Fortunately, since he was a friend, he let her use her Commissioner of the Blind ID, but he was not supposed to do so. My mother had long before that ceased driving and possessed the ID only from the DMV, but she failed at seeing fine print of any kind.

yes your mom will need an id

Yes. My MIL's driver's license expired in 2019, before the COVID extensions. My husband didn't want to get her a State I.D. for a while as he was worried she wouldn't read closely and would think it was a driver's license. Well, she has been using a Military I.D. issued about 25 years ago any time she needs an I.D. It has no expiration date and it IS government issued. But no one is happy with it because, while they must accept it (technically), she looks completely different now from how she did then. My husband has given in and we're waiting on getting her a State-issued copy of her birth certificate to get her the senior I.D.

Yes, get your mother a Real ID - they can be used as official identification for people who don't have drivers licenses. I think they are administered by her state's Motor Vehicle Bureau (same as drivers licenses).

I'd get her a state-issued ID. You never know you might have to travel with her. Without a current ID she'll never be able to get on a plane. Our state is changing to "real ID" in 2023. We'll both have to go in with all required documents and get ours. I doubt I'll travel with my Alzheimer's husband, but just as sure as I won't need it I will.

I'd get her a state-issued ID. You never know you might have to travel with her. Without a current ID she'll never be able to get on a plane. Our state is changing to "real ID" in 2023. We'll both have to go in with all the required documents and get ours. I doubt I'll travel with my Alzheimer's husband, but just as sure as I won't need it I will.