Name Changes

Name Changes

Have you ever wanted to change your name? Maybe you have recently divorced or married if you are female, and want to take your new husbands name or go back to your maiden name? Name changes are quite common for women in these cases, and easy to implement also. The marriage certificate or divorce decree is all that is needed to substantiate the name change. Common law marriage is slightly different however. The female partners new name was accepted by usage alone, but when separation occurs between common law partners, there is no divorce decree to support the request of the name change. A birth certificate would be required to prove identity in this case, but the name still may not be readily accepted by creditors or other entities without persistence.

There are other reasons why people seek name changes. Possibly they are just unhappy with their name and want to change it to something else. This is okay as long as it is not being changed with some type of fraudulent intent in mind. In other words, people cannot change their names or assume the identity of another simply to avoid creditors or other type of legal action. Name change requests cannot be offensive, as in a racial slur, or be intentionally confusing. So with this in mind, how did Prince change his name to an unrecognizable symbol if its not allowed? Oh yeah, the power of celebrity status. Moving on . . . name change requests involving names of famous people, i.e. Marilyn Monroe or John F. Kennedy, will also be denied unless there is an acceptable reason to do so.

For the most part, name changes are quite common. It is a fairly simple process, and as mentioned earlier, the new name can be assumed simply by usage alone. Formal court documents are not required in every case, only if changing to a completely different name. For more information visit www.legalzoom.com, www.ssa.gov/gethelp1.htm, www.nolo.com, or a number of other online sources for answers to frequently asked questions and general discussion about name changes. Requirements for the local county of residence should also be researched, because any papers will need to be filed according to their guidelines; any questions can be directed to the Clerk and County Recorders office. Name changes may require a bit of extra paper work and effort, but once implemented, your name is yours to keep.