How to Change your Legal Name
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About
Many trans activist organizations have spent time assembling checklists for how to change your name in a given location and undergo other aspects of gender transition more comfortably.
Changing your name does involve going through some legal obstacles, but it can smooth over a variety of aspects in your life if you are publicly and consistently using your new chosen name. Check out the following guides for how to change your name in various US states:
Keep in mind non-official documentation is sometimes lacking updated document requirements. Make sure to go through guides from the source so you don't miss things like confidentiality certification.
One fact that is useful to know is that when you are submitting legal paperwork, you can just type up your own version of the document. Follow the format that the relevant court specifies—basically you just copy the format of the provided form in your own Word document. This is useful if you would like to add additional details to your petition. This applies to legal paperwork in general, but it can be useful if, say, the court-provided paperwork uses "he/she" language and you would like to replace that pair of irrelevant pronouns with those that match your gender identity and choice of pronouns (e.g. "xe" or "them"). Hypothetically, you may run into issues with clerks being sticklers, but morally speaking it's worth at least making the dignified attempt to injecting representative language the judicial system.
When getting forms notarized, you'll need to see a notary public. Many will charge for their services, but many banks offer such notary services for free, typically only requiring an appointment be made.
Submit your paperwork to the court that handles name change requests given where you live. In the US, name changes are handled at the state level. Each state has its own process for a name change, tells citizens where to submit the legal paperwork, and decides miscellaneous stipulations like minimum residency requirements. Your government may require you to run a notice in the newspaper before or immediately after the process, or perform other steps on top of what's on this page.
When you do submit your paperwork, make sure to get an estimate of when you should hear back, so that you know when to call and check the status of the approval, or whether you were missing paperwork. People (e.g. Lavra) sometimes slip through the cracks and don't hear back, even though the change was approved and the court orders sitting on somebody's desk for weeks.
Following this core legal change to your name, the government may pin the responsibility of updating all your documents on you. This is at least true in the United States: here, you will have to update your name with Social Security to get a new SS card, then go to the DMV to pick up a new Driver's License, and also update your passport and birth certificate. Updating these documents will enable you to change your name with private institutions that have records of your legal name, such as your bank, payment services, and insurance companies.
Delaware
Florida
New Jersey
When Local Projects are implemented on Magnova, the prior guides can be moved to the Local pages of this project.
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Version 7 of 7 - This project was created by lavra on 12/24/2021
- Designers: lavra.
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Issues that How to Change your Legal Name addresses
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Tasks that make up this project
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- Choose your name
- Read your government's process for changing your name
- Run a public notice in the newspaper, if required where you live
- Fill out forms
- Get forms notarized (possibly for free at your bank)
- Find the courthouse where you submit paperwork
- Submit name change packet to court, bringing requested ID to show the clerk
- Call courthouse to check in after the window of time they give you
- Pick up court orders
- Change name on each government document
- Change name with bank
- Change name with payment services
- Change name with insurance companies
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