While events like marriage and divorce are the most common reasons why people find the need to change name and prepare a custom name change checklist, but these aren’t the only reasons. People have been reportedly changing their name for honor, career prospects, religious reasons, gender transformation, simplicity of pronunciation, etc.
In short, you can change your name for any reason unless it is has something to do with a fraudulent activity like getting rid of criminal past or cheating money lenders. Both minors and adults have authority to change their name legally, irrespective of their gender.
The legal process
Let’s check out the three most common techniques to change your name before you start acting on your name change checklist.
- Court order: In most states, a person willing to change egally first needs to get a court order for the same. Once received legal permission from court, the person can start updating in all documents enlisted in their checklist. Remember, rules vary from one state to another. So, do your homework and learn your state’s laws.
- Marriage Certificate: In many states, a marriage certificate is considered as a legal proof of. New brides have to collect their marriage certificate from the local court and get a dozen of its certified copies to begin with process at social security office, banks and other places. Changing name after marriage is much simpler and faster process compared to other cases.
- Self-claimed usage: There are some states where people can start using a new name on own and over time it will be considered their as new legal name.
Depending on your particular case, legal process can take a few days, months or longer. Every state has its own set of guidelines that the applicant needs to follow and thus timeline can vary dramatically. To file you need to have a proof about your residency in the particular state you want to apply.
For example, if you want to apply in a New York court, it is imperative that you are a permanent resident of New York State and you have authenticated proof for the same. If you have shifted in New York about a month ago, you may need to wait for at least 6 month to a year sometime, depending on your state rules, to be eligible for applying.
In some complicated cases such as a minor whose one parent is against this decision, there can be a hearing in the court where both parents have to be present. The judge will listen to both parents and rule out their decision keeping the child’s interest in mind. Not all cases are straightforward and thus procedure time may also vary accordingly.
A Checklist
Once you have changed legally, you will need to update a number or government and private organizations. Below is a checklist of some of the most important documents or accounts you will need to update your new name in.
Social security card
Employer
Driver’s license & Vehicle registration
Passport
Voter Registration
Bank accounts, Loan accounts & credit cards
Insurance policies (Auto, Home and Health)
Post office
Utility Bills
Memberships, Subscriptions and Clubs
Tax account
Doctors
Professional or business association
Emails, business cards, online accounts
You will need to prepare a custom checklist covering all organizations and documents where it is important to update your new legal name in the records. You may need to visit some places in person and fill out the required forms. Keep the required documents handy and organized throughout this process to save your time and money.
If you find this scary and need expert advice to guide you throughout your procedure or you want some more assistance that can save a huge amount of time in this process, hire an agency. Such agencies offer various name change packages to fit every applicant’s needs. This will save you a great deal of time and efforts. And the great news is, these packages are really affordable.
