How To Legally Change Your Name

By Katie Penny
Times Columnist

The provided information is fact-sensitive and jurisdiction-dependent. Consult an attorney before employing the below legal concepts.

Were your parents hippies? Have you paid the price for it? Sunflower Peaceandlove Smith? Mario Savio Jones? Do you cringe when people ask you your middle name? Fortunately, although we get named when we cannot yet roll our eyes at our parents, the law provides a procedure by which one’s name may be legally changed! And the process is neither as complex nor as simple as the average person probably imagines.

The reason people often think the process is simple is probably because of maiden names—and books, in which people always seem to be able to prance to the courthouse to get their name changed on a coffee break.

Taking your spouse’s last name is completely optional in these liberated days. If you do want to take your spouse’s name, however, the marriage license acts in the same way as a signed court order authorizing a name change, and it may be presented in the same way to the various organizations with whom a name change must be registered—except the Department of Vital Statistics, because only a court order will authorize a name change on a birth certificate.

So, if you want to change your surname because you have gotten married, you need not go through the following procedure. Tip to new brides: don’t buy honeymoon airplane tickets in your new name. Your passport cannot be changed until after you get the license, and international airport security is…tetchy, these days, about the name on the plane ticket matching the name on the passport.

And also, on the other end of the marriage spectrum, tip to new divorcées: if you request in the petition for divorce that you be permitted to revert to your maiden name after the divorce is final, the judgment of divorce will act in the same way as the marriage license.

All the court order—or marriage license/ judgment of divorce—really does is give you the authority to have all of the other important organizations change your name. If the court authorizes a name change, you yourself still have to contact the DMV, the social security office, the Department of Vital Statistics, etc., and have your name actually changed with them. Having the court approve a name change is just the necessary first step.

Another important caveat is that Louisiana law does not permit someone convicted of a felony—any felony, violent or not—to petition for a name change during their imprisonment, parole, or probation. Someone who has previously been convicted of a violent felony is not permitted to petition the court for a name change at all.

Also, petitioning the court for a name change for a minor is a bit more complicated than for an adult. Because a minor is not allowed to conduct legal acts, a petition to change a minor’s name must be brought by the minor’s parents, or other legal custodian, if there are no living parents, on behalf of the minor. With some exceptions regarding child support and communication, both parents must sign the petition for the change of name.

In a name change proceeding, the person who wants the name change is the plaintiff; the defendant in a name change proceeding is, by law, the district attorney of the parish in which the petition is brought.
In the petition, the requester has to give certain information to the court: the requester’s name at birth, their birth date, their birth place, their mother’s maiden name, their father’s name, and a reason for the desired change. The reason is very important, as the judge must make a determination that the law and evidence justify the name change. The reason does not always have to be a very good reason. An example might be: “My name is Sue and I’m a man and I keep getting attacked for it.” The judge needs to know your reason nonetheless. You should also inform the court of the name you are changing to.
Because the DA is technically the defendant in the name change proceeding, he or she has to be legally served with the petition and he has to respond to it. So, the requester will write up the petition, have the DA served, and the DA will either contest the proceeding or not. If the DA finds that you are not a felon and that there is no other impediment to the change, he will probably not object. If he does, though, the court can set a hearing at which the requester and the DA can explain their reasons and/or objections.
If the judge finds that the change is justified, such as when a gentleman is named Sue, the judge will sign a judgment authorizing the name change.
At that point, your work really begins. The judgment must be presented to any organization with whom the requester’s name must be changed. The responsibility to have your name changed on your passport belongs to you; getting a new driver’s license is your job. The most difficult part of all of this is probably remembering all of the places you need to tell about your name change and then getting through their red tape.

The provided information is fact-sensitive and jurisdiction-dependent. Consult an attorney before employing the above legal concepts.