(trans)prose

I had originally thought that I would be able to pick up the forms to file for a name change at my county’s courthouse. Wrong. They couldn’t even suggest where I could find those forms. My understanding is that this is because employees of the court are unable to offer anything that could possibly be construed as “legal advice”. My suspicion is that this is to discourage pro se representation. Like many people seeking name changes, I am unable to afford a lawyer; even if I could, a legal name change is a fairly simple process, even with these procedural hurdles.

After some extensive searching, I came across a free Family Law resource from the Legal Aid Society of Orange County. The online application took me step-by-step through the process of filling out and filing for a name change in my state. I was surprised to come across this free resource, since most others I found cost at least $50.

The Forms:

The first form was the “Petition To Change Name (Of An Adult)”. I filled out my then legal name, some personal information (address, phone number, county of residence, etc.), and my new name. Then, I was asked to provide the reason I sought a name change. I stated that I had used my new name professionally and personally for over two years, and that I am changing my name to conform to common use. To my knowledge, there is no reason to mention gender identity or transition status in your petition. Then, I certified that I was not changing my name with the intent to defrauding another of any rights (namely, the right to any money that I owe them) by signing and dating the form.

The next form was the “Verification”, in which one of the court’s notary publics would confirm that I had appeared in court on that date, swearing under oath that the information I presented in my petition was correct. I filled out the name and date in advance, but I was to wait and sign the “Verification” in front of the notary.

Then, I filled out the “Notice Of Petition To Change Name”. This was the text of the ad I would have to run in my county’s newspaper. This legal notice had to be published in the court-approved newspaper once a week for 4 weeks. I provided my then legal name, the date I filed my petition, and my new name. The ad also instructed anyone who wanted to object to my name change to appear in court within 30 days of my filing.

Finally, I filled out the “Final Decree Changing The Name Of An Adult”. This would be the Court Order changing my name, in which the judge asserts that everything appears to have been in order, my ad ran for a month, and there have been no objections filed. It decrees that my name shall be changed from my old name to my new name (I filled out my old and new name in the blanks), and that I’m not allowed to use the name change to defraud anybody of their rights. There was a space for the judge to date and sign the decree. According to the folks working in the Superior Court Clerk’s office, this saved me a good bit of time in the end, since the judge only had to sign the document.

The Legwork:

In late March, I brought all four of those forms to my county courthouse and went upstairs to the Clerk of Courts (which, apparently, is the same thing as the Superior Court Clerk). A notary looked over everything, confirmed that everything looked in order, and put it all in a folder. She signed my “Verification” form, and then I paid her $82–$80 for court filing fees and $2 for the notary. I was told to call back in about a week (they were busy) to get my case number.

A week later, I called and got my case number. Then, I realized that I’d left my “Notice Of Petition To Change Name” with the notary (I’m not sure whether I was supposed to or not). I printed out a new one, and went off to place my ad in the paper. I was directed to a very nice woman whose entire job seems to be to oversee legal notices. She took my “Notice…” and looked it over to make sure it seemed right, and then directed me to sit in the lobby and wait for her to type it up.

She brought it out after about 15 minutes and asked me to confirm the information, which I did. I probably should’ve looked more closely at the rest of the text because she had actually made a minor typo, but it doesn’t seem to have mattered in the least. I then paid her $80 to run the ad. She wrote the dates during which the ad would run on my copy of the ad. She said that I’d be mailed a “Publisher’s Affidavit” after the ad had run for the last time.

In late April, I received the “Publisher’s Affidavit” in the mail, complete with a little newspaper clipping of my ad. This was to verify for the judge that I had run the ad. I brought it back to the courthouse and dropped it off with another notary at the Clerk of Courts. She told me to call back in a few days to make sure it had all been taken care of. Once that was finished, I could stop by the Clerk’s again, where I could get as many certified copies of my name change decree as I wanted for $2.50 per copy.

I was surprised and pleased to learn that, in my county, a petitioner for a name change is not required to appear before a judge. On April 29th, 2009 my name change was legalized. I paid for 5 notarized copies of the “Final Decree”.