Change your name (legally)

This article will be on how you can change your name legally. There are a lot of ways to change a person's name but not all the ways are legal to perform. You can easily change your name legally bit it will take a bit of work on your end in order to change your name successfully. Changing your name in fact will not wipe away any charges that you have accrued with your name which you are changing from so don't expect for a new name to wipe your slate clean of everything that you have done in the past.

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   Pick the name of which you want to now be known as from now on carefully as this process will not be able to change over and over again as much as you would like it change, this new name is not something that you can continue to get tired of and change as much as you want in your future

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   After you have chosen your name carefully it is recommended that you practice saying the name and also writing it out to get yourself familiarized with this new name that you are about to be known as from now on. You can also practice having people say this name aloud to see if it is a name that you are comfortable with being called in order to ensure that this is a name you can see yourself being called. When thinking about your new name take into consideration which part of your name you are wishing to change whether it is your first, middle or last name in particular or if you just want to change all three but ensure that you have carefully thought this through when setting up your new name but understand that if you are trying to change your name for a certain reason which include: avoiding bankruptcy, violating a trademark or hiding from the police. Things of that nature will get figured out when you first sign up to change your name so there will be a less chance that you will even get far enough to the documents if you have any of those suspicions but it is possible you may get past them at first but you will unfortunately get caught after while of doing this procedure. Also you will not be able to create a name which include any obscene wording, numbers or symbols so keep that in mind when creating your new name.

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   In some states you will need to sign a petition in order to successfully change your name

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   In the petition you will be asked of the reason you want to change your name in the first place from here you will need to list either your reasons or reason for wanting to change your name. This paperwork will be submitted to a judge so ensure that you fully explain your reason for wanting to change your name and also to write legibly with no grammar errors in your description so that you will look as professional and the judge will be able to fully understand your reasoning for wanting to change your name. Depending on the reason for changing your name because of the reason of divorce understand that you can go about this with your divorce lawyer who can speed up the process faster for you in order for you to get your name changed the quickest. If you are an immigrant, ex-convict, or attorney you will need to get an affidavit in order to send to the authorities so that they can have your new name and also transfer all your charges and etc. over to your new name.

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   After you have written out your petition you will need to have it notarized by the court in order for this document to become legal for without having the document notarized it will just be another piece of paper

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   If you do not wish to have it notarized or don't have the time to do so you can have your petition signed by a court clerk which will give the petition the same power as a notary would. Now you are ready to make copies of the document for your own safe keeping even though it has not been processed yet you will still have proof of the petition just in case anything else happened to the original, plus it's always good to have backup copies of your document for safe keeping. Be sure that you are in fact getting copies of the petition after it has been notarized or signed by court clerk so that your copies will already be notarized saving you a trip in case you happen to lose a copy of your petition.

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   Take your petition and present it to the civil court in order to file your petition, you will need to go to your local civil court and visit the court clerk in order to get them to help you file your petition

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   From there the clerk will give you the necessary information on when your petition may get filed and also give you a court date that you will have to return to for a later date in order for you return to present your case and also get your official ruling on the matter. Make sure that you make your court date for if you don't the judge may not be a reluctant to approve your petition for wasting the courts times with your specific case. Be there for the presiding of your case to ensure that you get the best chance at having your name changed successfully.

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   Attend your court hearing for your case where the judge will make a ruling on the case

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   The cases in court for name changes are quick and straightforward so you do not have to worry about being in court for a long period of time or anything of that nature except attend court. The judge will ask you a few questions to get a better understanding of the case and the reasoning of why you want to change your name. They will be asking you these questions to hear the answers from you and also to make sure that what you have in your petition is correct by hearing you recite them back to the judge. If you say something that is not written down in your petition then understand that it may cause you to have your petition denied for it will show that you haven't disclosed everything about your reasoning in your petition making you have to start all the way from the bottom yet again. When speaking to the judge answer clearly and be completely honest with the judge on your reasoning. If the judge denies you then get a copy of the order and try again if you wish to for hopes of a different outcome from the judge.

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   If the judge approves your petition of your name change then get a copy of the court order and also the certificate for your records

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   The judge will not hand these documents to you instead you will be given these documents by a local civil court clerk. When you receive these documents make copies of the document as immediately as you can for you do not want to lose your one and only original copy of your new name. After you have successfully changed your name understand that everything is not over for now you will need to go to the social security administration's office in order for you to fill out the application to get you a new social security card. Also you will need to visit the DMV in order to get yourself an updated driver's license with your new name. Change your name to all of your accounts including banking accounts, credit card, vehicle, medical post office boxes and whatever else there is that you will need to change regarding your new name from your old name.

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If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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