How to Change Your Name

 Hello everyone, this is Refried Bean, just describing my name change process if anyone wants to know how to change a name. It is a lot of work but can be done in a straightforward way with most of the crucial things happening within about two months. 

The first step is to fill out an affidavit form requesting the name change and have it notarized.  A lawyer can help but is not necessary.  You then take this form to the name change office at a courthouse with proper ID and do what they tell you. I think there is also a thirty dollar fee.  They process the request over about a four week period and then have you come in with additional ID. There might also be another document that has to be notarized.  This second appearance creates more of a paper trail and I would suspect that for some people they get it done faster and with just two visits to the courthouse. 

You need to have a reason to change your name, but generally it is your right.  A legitimate reason makes it go more smoothly.  For me, I was making my pen name that I already used for 10 years into my permanent name, so I brought the court a copy of a thin children’s book that I wrote, which also had a photo of me with my name.

Eventually they grant your request and you go to the court house for a third time to pick up the actual court order.  This is the most key document.  It costs about six dollars per copy and you need to get about ten copies so you have enough for all the agencies you want to update during the first year.  The court house keeps copies of the document also, so if you ever need one, you can go back and order more. 

After you have this document, you immediately go to the DMV to update your drivers license, and take it to the social security office to have your new social security card ordered.  At the office, they might instantly type it in their computer, but you still have to wait until they mail you a new card. Several other agencies are updated automatically from the visit to the social security office.  For instance, SSDI and medicare. However a call directly to the medicare office is a good idea, and they change your medicare card too. This takes time, and to me it is questionable that it does not happen faster.

The DMV license becomes a document almost as important as the court order itself, because that is what you take to banks as soon as possible, so you can get a debit card with your new name. It is also a document that most places want to see instead of a court order.  You need to send original copies of the court order to most of the government ID agencies, but most businesses and organizations want to see the license. Also, keep your old license with your old name for places who want to see both IDs.

Changing your name on your birth certificate is interesting because the birth certificate is a historical record in addition to being used as ID.  So you can see a case for not being allowed to change it on the birth certificate.  But what they will do is change it and send you a new birth certificate that says “amended.”

A priority that is another main form of ID is the passport.  This can be done at the post office and is actually somewhat challenging in terms of effort.  You have to make an appointment, get a photo taken, and fill out an application that can’t have things crossed out on it.  Also there is a fee that is more expensive than the other costs for the name change.

It takes several months to get all of this done, but the first days and weeks are crucial to get it started with the visits to social security and DMV.

Other priorities are insurance, Medicaid, organizations you participate in, and asking people you know to call you by your new name.  Some places make you ask twice. I did not appreciate that and felt it should be more straightforward.  But I think they do what they think will be most helpful to establish your new name. I had to call my health insurance company 8 times to finally get a new insurance card.

For credit card companies, you often have to fill out a form or mail in copies of your license and the court order.  It can usually be a photocopy. They will send a new card with your updated name. This could be a good way to document the name change.  I had about 19 credit cards at the time of my name change.

Some places are slow and don’t care, but the fact is that it involves a court order so everyone has to get it right. However, if you are using the name to control other people, you can expect to be defeated, because other people have rights, too. I sometimes use my old name in coffee shops so no one will feel like a fool as they say “Refried Bean.” It is a name for a comedian and humor writer, and I respect other people’s preferences of what to say.

It is nice as the year progresses to be able to fill out forms with your new name when it asks for “legal name.” Eventually you see your old name less and systems have your new name listed correctly. 

As for whether all this trouble is necessary, If you just want people to call you something different, it might be enough to have a nick name, pen name, or stage name.  That is often plenty of preferred identity acknowledgement, and a few years of that can be a good start for if you ever decide to change it permanently.

Thanks everyone, if you feel like sending me a card with my new name, my mailing address is PO Box 37 Bronx, NY 10461.

song: What a Beautiful Name:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5L6QlAH3L4