What are the requirements to change my name to my husband's last name?
Full Question:
I was married in 2002 in Michigan and now live in New York City. After 6 years, I now want to change my last name to my husband's family name. In New York State, do I need to obtain a legal court document or can I just change my name according to usage, i.e. change my name in all of my documentation? In this case, how do I go about legally changing my name?
01/16/2009 |
Category: Name Change |
State: New York |
#15012
Answer:
The need for a legal name change may result from marriage, divorce, adoption or simply a desire to have another name. Generally, a person cannot change his or her name for a fraudulent purpose, such as avoiding debts. Means of changing your name generally include: usage (in some states using a name as your own has the affect of making it your name); court order (a court order is recommended to change your name and is required by most states); or a marriage certificate.
The following are New York statutes:
§ 60 Civ. Rights. Petition for change of name.
A petition for leave to assume another name may be made by a resident of
the state to the county court of the county or the supreme court in the
county in which he resides, or, if he resides in the city of New York,
either to the supreme court or to any branch of the civil court of the city
of New York, in any county of the city of New York. The petition to change
the name of an infant may be made by the infant through his next friend, or
by either of his parents, or by his general guardian, or by the guardian of
his person.
§ 61 Civ. Rights. Contents.
1. The petition shall be in writing, signed by the petitioner and
verified in like manner as a pleading in a court of record, and shall
specify the grounds of the application, the name, date of birth, place of
birth, age and residence of the individual whose name is proposed to be
changed and the name which he or she proposes to assume. The petition shall
also specify
(a) whether or not the petitioner has been convicted of a
crime or adjudicated a bankrupt;
(b) whether or not there are any judgments
or liens of record against the petitioner or actions or proceedings pending
to which the petitioner is a party, and, if so, the petitioner shall give
descriptive details in connection therewith sufficient to readily identify
the matter referred to;
(c) whether or not the petitioner is responsible
for child support obligations;
(d) whether or not the petitioner's child
support obligations have been satisfied and are up to date;
(e) the amount
of a child support arrearage that currently is outstanding along with the
identity of the court which issued the support order and the county child
support collections unit;
(f) whether or not the petitioner is responsible
for spousal support obligations;
(g) whether or not the petitioner's
spousal support obligations have been satisfied and are up to date; and (h)
the amount of spousal support arrearage that currently is outstanding along
with the identity of the court which issued the support order.
2. If the petitioner stands convicted of a violent felony offense as
defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a felony defined in article
one hundred twenty-five of such law or any of the following provisions of
such law sections 130.25, 130.30, 130.40, 130.45, 255.25, 255.26,
255.27, article two hundred sixty-three, 135.10, 135.25, 230.05, 230.06,
subdivision two of section 230.30 or 230.32, and is currently confined as
an inmate in any correctional facility or currently under the supervision
of the state division of parole or a county probation department as a
result of such conviction, the petition shall for each such conviction
specify such felony conviction, the date of such conviction or
convictions, and the court in which such conviction or convictions were
entered.
3. Upon all applications for change of name by persons born in the state
of New York, there shall be annexed to such petition either a birth
certificate or a certified transcript thereof or a certificate of the
commissioner or local board of health that none is available.
§ 62 Civ. Rights. Notice.
1. If the petition be to change the name of an infant, notice of the time
and place when and where the petition will be presented must be served, in
like manner as a notice of a motion upon an attorney in an action, upon (a)
both parents of the infant, if they be living, unless the petition be made
by one of the parents, in which case notice must be served upon the other,
if he or she be living, and (b) the general guardian or guardian of the
person, if there be one. But if any of the persons, required to be given
notice by this section, reside without the state, then the notice required
by this section must be sent by registered mail to the last known address
of the person to be served. If it appears to the satisfaction of the court
that a person required to be given notice by this section cannot be located
with due diligence within the state, and that such person has no known
address without the state, then the court may dispense with notice or
require notice to be given to such persons and in such manner as the court
thinks proper.
2.[fn*] If the petition be to change the name of a person currently
confined as an inmate in any correctional facility or currently under the
supervision of the state division of parole or a county probation
department as a result of a conviction for a violent felony offense as
defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a felony defined in article
one hundred twenty-five of such law or any of the following provisions of
such law sections 130.25, 130.30, 130.40, 130.45, 255.25, article 263,
135.10, 135.25, 230.05, 230.06, subdivision two of section 230.30 or
230.32, notice of the time and place when and where the petition will be
presented shall be served, in like manner as a notice of a motion upon an
attorney in an action, upon the district attorney of every county in
which such person has been convicted of such felony and upon the court or
courts in which the sentence for such felony was entered. Unless a
shorter period of time is ordered by the court, said notice shall be
served upon each such district attorney and court or courts not less than
sixty days prior to the date on which such petition is noticed to be
heard.
[fn*] NB Effective until November 1, 2006
2.[fn*] If the petition be to change the name of a person currently
confined as an inmate in any correctional facility or currently under the
supervision of the state division of parole or a county probation
department as a result of a conviction for a violent felony offense as
defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a felony defined in article
one hundred twenty-five of such law or any of the following provisions of
such law sections 130.25, 130.30, 130.40, 130.45, 255.25, 255.26,
255.27, article two hundred sixty-three, 135.10, 135.25, 230.05, 230.06,
subdivision two of section 230.30 or 230.32, notice of the time and place
when and where the petition will be presented shall be served, in like
manner as a notice of a motion upon an attorney in an action, upon the
district attorney of every county in which such person has been convicted
of such felony and upon the court or courts in which the sentence for
such felony was entered. Unless a shorter period of time is ordered by
the court, said notice shall be served upon each such district attorney
and court or courts not less than sixty days prior to the date on which
such petition is noticed to be heard.
[fn*] NB Effective November 1, 2006
§ 63 Civ. Rights. Order.
If the court to which the petition is presented is satisfied thereby, or
by the affidavit and certificate presented therewith, that the petition is
true, and that there is no reasonable objection to the change of name
proposed, and if the petition be to change the name of an infant, that the
interests of the infant will be substantially promoted by the change, the
court shall make an order authorizing the petitioner to assume the name
proposed. The order shall further recite the date and place of birth of the
applicant and, if the applicant was born in the state of New York, such
order shall set forth the number of his birth certificate or that no birth
certificate is available. The order shall be directed to be entered and the
papers on which it was granted to be filed prior to the publication
hereinafter directed in the clerk's office of the county in which the
petitioner resides if he be an individual, or in the office of the clerk of
the civil court of the city of New York if the order be made by that court.
Such order shall also direct the publication, at least once, within sixty
days after the making of the order, in a designated newspaper in the county
in which the order is directed to be entered and if the petition is made by
a person subject to the provisions of subdivision two of section sixty-two
of this article, in a designated newspaper in any county wherein such
person was convicted if different from the county in which the order is
otherwise directed to be entered, of a notice in substantially the
following form:
Notice is hereby given that an order entered by the __________ court,
__________ county, on the ______ day of ______, bearing Index
Number__________, a copy of which may be examined at the office of the
clerk, located at _______________, in room number _____, grants me the
right to assume the name of _______________ My present address
is ___________________________________________________________;
the date of my birth is ______________________________________;
the place of my birth is _____________________________________;
my present name is ___________________________________________.
§ 64 Civ. Rights. Effect.[fn*]
[fn*] NB Effective until November 1, 2006
If the order shall be fully complied with, and within ninety days after
the making of the order, an affidavit of the publication thereof shall be
filed in the office in which the order is entered, the petitioner shall
be known by the name which is thereby authorized to be assumed. If the
surname of a parent be changed as provided in this article, any minor
child of such parent at the time of such change may thereafter assume
such changed surname.
Upon compliance with the order and the filing of the affidavit of the
publication, as provided in this section, the clerk of the court in
which the order has been entered shall certify that the order has been
complied with; and, if the petition states that the petitioner stands
convicted of a violent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the
penal law or a felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of such
law or any of the following provisions of such law sections 130.25,
130.30, 130.40, 130.45, 255.25, article 263, 135.10, 135.25, 230.05,
230.06, subdivision two of section 230.30 or 230.32, such clerk shall
(1) deliver, by first class mail, a copy of such certified order to the
division of criminal justice services at its office in the county of
Albany and (2) upon the clerk of the court reviewing the petitioner's
application for name change and subsequent in-court inquiry, may, in the
clerk's discretion, deliver, by first class mail, the petitioner's new
name with such certified order to the court of competent jurisdiction
which imposed the orders of support. Such certification shall appear on
the original order and on any certified copy thereof and shall be
entered in the clerk's minutes of the proceeding.
§ 64. Effect.[fn*]
[fn*] NB Effective November 1, 2006
If the order shall be fully complied with, and within ninety days after
the making of the order, an affidavit of the publication thereof shall be
filed in the office in which the order is entered, the petitioner shall be
known by the name which is thereby authorized to be assumed. If the surname
of a parent be changed as provided in this article, any minor child of such
parent at the time of such change may thereafter assume such changed
surname.
Upon compliance with the order and the filing of the affidavit of the
publication, as provided in this section, the clerk of the court in which
the order has been entered shall certify that the order has been complied
with; and, if the petition states that the petitioner stands convicted of a
violent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a
felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of such law or any of the
following provisions of such law sections 130.25, 130.30, 130.40, 130.45,
255.25, 255.26, 255.27, article two hundred sixty-three, 135.10, 135.25,
230.05, 230.06, subdivision two of section 230.30 or 230.32, such clerk (1)
shall deliver, by first class mail, a copy of such certified order to the
division of criminal justice services at its office in the county of Albany
and (2) upon the clerk of the court reviewing the petitioner's application
for name change and subsequent in-court inquiry, may, in the clerk's
discretion, deliver, by first class mail, the petitioner's new name with
such certified order to the court of competent jurisdiction which imposed
the orders of support. Such certification shall appear on the original
order and on any certified copy thereof and shall be entered in the clerk's
minutes of the proceeding.
§ 64-a Civ. Rights. Exemption from publication requirements.
If the court shall find that the publication of an applicant's change of
name would jeopardize such applicant's personal safety, the provisions of
sections sixty-three and sixty-four of this article requiring publication
shall be waived and shall be inapplicable. The court shall order the
records of such change of name proceeding to be sealed, to be opened only
by order of the court for good cause shown or at the request of the
applicant.
§ 65 Civ. Rights. Optional change of name upon marriage, divorce or
annulment.
1. Any person may, upon marriage, elect to assume a new name according to
the provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section fifteen of
the domestic relations law.
2. Any person may, upon divorce or annulment, elect to resume the use of
a former surname according to the provisions of section two hundred forty-a
of the domestic relations law.
3. The effect of the name changes accomplished in the manner prescribed
in subdivisions one and two of this section shall be as set forth in
section sixty-four of this chapter.
4. Nothing in this article shall be construed to abrogate or alter the
common law right of every person, whether married or single, to retain his
or her name or to assume a new one so long as the new name is used
consistently and without intent to defraud.
5. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the state shall not
impose any fee, charge, surcharge or assessment solely to change the
surname contained on a license, permit, registration or other identifying
document for a person who, because of a change in marital status, has
assumed a new name or reassumes use of a former surname as provided for in
this section.
We are unable to provide specific legal advice pertaining to the particular facts of your situation and only offer general legal information regarding the subject matter in the answers we provide such as the general information provided regarding name change in New York. Although some states may allow name change through usage, the New York statutes that we provided set forth the judicial process required to change one's name in New York. We offer the necessary forms for name change in New York as provided earlier at the link below, and we offer several different types of name change packages at the same link. We also offer name change preparation services at a discount where the forms will be completed for you based on the information you provide and will be reviewed by a professional. Please see the links below for the forms, packages and preparation services questionnaire.
