What are the legal requirements to change your name?
Full Question:
Answer:
You may file a name change petition in the probate court located in the county where you reside. You will also be required to file a birth certificate with the court before a name change order may be entered. The court will grant a name change unless it finds it not to be in the public interest or someone who raises an objection can show good cause why it shouldn't be granted.
The court will ask you to explain your reasons for wanting a name change. Seeking to avoid stigma associated with a name is a valid reason for a name change. However, seeking to defraud creditors or escape obligations such as child support would not be in the public interest and would cause the request to be denied. You may express your willingness to submit the name change order to the child support enforcement agency, so that they may change the name on their records. A court is less likely to permit the choice of a name that is bizarre, unduly lengthy, ridiculous, or offensive to common decency and good taste. The following is a Massachusetts statute:
G.L.c. 210, § 13. Notice and certificate; decree; entry; conditions precedent.
Section 13. The court shall, before decreeing a change of name, request a report from the commissioner of probation on the person filing the petition and, except for good cause shown, require public notice of the petition to be given and any person may be heard thereon, and, upon entry of a decree, the name as established thereby shall be the legal name of the petitioner, and the register may issue a certificate, under the seal of the court, of the name as so established.
No decree shall be entered, however, until there has been filed in the court a copy of the birth record of the person whose name is sought to be changed and, in case such person's name has previously been changed by decree of court or at marriage pursuant to section one D of chapter forty-six, either a copy of the record of his birth amended to conform to the previous decree changing his name, a copy of such decree, or a copy of the record of marriage; provided, that the filing of any such copy may be dispensed with if the judge is satisfied that it cannot be obtained.
