Legal name change, what I've learned (at least in Indiana USA)

[Denise]

In New Hanover county in NC I have to get an FBI background check,  state background check, 2 letters from residents of the county who have lived here for six months or more notorized stating I have a good character, a notorized statement that I don't owe child support or back taxes, post my notice of name change on the courthouse door for at least 10 business days but no more than 30, pay the court fees, then petition the court to accept my name change.  I'm still waiting on my fbi background check to come, 10 weeks after requesting it grrrrrrrrrr!

OMG!  It's almost worth moving to another state for 6 months!

[Pisces228]

OMG!  It's almost worth moving to another state for 6 months!

lord if I haven't thought about it. 

[JennyBear]

P.S.  The judge misgendered me 100% of the time during the hearing.  BUT when we ran into the judge later (we had lunch and the judge walked in) he commented as we left "Have a nice day ladies."  That made it all better.

    The misgendering in court may have been legally required until your name and gender change on the documents was taken care of. Having to refer to the plaintiff by their legally appropriate name and terms sounds very likely in order for the change to be official. Hence once the court was adjourned he was able to use the correct term. If that's according to State Law or official courtroom procedure policies in your State, then there was nothing he could do about it.

HUGS!

[JennyBear]

In Indiana there is a requirement to post name changes in the newspaper.  There is a little known paper in the county that is used to publish legal announcements that I used.

    Not sure this will help you since you have already completed this step, but it is still worth noting, nearly all states have an exemption clause for legal name changes needing to be posted if it puts the life of the plaintiff in jeopardy. It is primarily set up for victims of frequent abuse, stalking, etc, and for those in witness protection. It usually necessitates a lawyer arguing your case for you, but is fairly routine nowadays.

HUGS!

[JennyBear]

In New Hanover county in NC I have to get an FBI background check,  state background check, 2 letters from residents of the county who have lived here for six months or more notorized stating I have a good character, a notorized statement that I don't owe child support or back taxes, post my notice of name change on the courthouse door for at least 10 business days but no more than 30, pay the court fees, then petition the court to accept my name change.  I'm still waiting on my fbi background check to come, 10 weeks after requesting it grrrrrrrrrr!

    The public notice requirement (courthouse door posting) should have an exemption clause, see my above post. No sense in giving yourself undue risk. Stay Safe.

HUGS!

[Denise]

    The misgendering in court may have been legally required until your name and gender change on the documents was taken care of. Having to refer to the plaintiff by their legally appropriate name and terms sounds very likely in order for the change to be official. Hence once the court was adjourned he was able to use the correct term. If that's according to State Law or official courtroom procedure policies in your State, then there was nothing he could do about it.

HUGS!

I had the same thought.  It was more warning to expect it.  The really icky part was the clerk for the judge did it too.  On just about every sentence.  Almost enough to be considered harassment.

Oh well, it's done and over!  Thank God.

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[Kendra]

I wasn't misgendered anywhere in the courthouse - not by the judge, the clerk or anyone else.  The judge called my case by my old legal name, asked a few questions, signed the order and handed it to the clerk. 

My court hearing was for name change not gender marker.  For that matter, it is legally possible to have Ken as a female name and Kendra as a male name.

And I returned the courtesy.  People in line before me addressed the judge as "sir" but I used the gender neutral term "your honor."  Ya never know who out there might be gender stealth - even a judge.  They do show up at work in a robe.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I'm fine if someone addresses me as "taxpayer".

[Denise]

If you're heading into Chicago I recommend the courthouse instead of a post office.  I checked the fed site and it lists the Cook County Courthouse as a passport acceptance facility.  Based on what I experienced a county clerk handling passport applications in a large city might consider this routine, since they also handle name changes for transgender individuals.

Thanks for the boost in confidence.  I sent to the court house at 1:15 and was out of there in 30 minutes with receipt in hand.  The challenge was I showed the post office person my old drivers license.  Had I presented my temporary paper one all would have been good.  DUH. 

As you would expect, the person at the court house didn't even blink/pause/... actually for a govt employee, they were quite helpful and at times even funny.  It was a VERY POSITIVE experience when one was not expected.

2-4 weeks... tick, tock.... tick......... toooooooccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkk, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[JennyBear]

As you would expect, the person at the court house didn't even blink/pause/... actually for a govt employee, they were quite helpful and at times even funny.  It was a VERY POSITIVE experience when one was not expected.

    See, not all government employees, even ones in LBGTQ hostile areas, are against us. It's just the bigots that get the press, and give the rest a bad name. Glad you had a good experience.

HUGS!

[rmaddy]

Unelected officials tend to be public servants who believe in the role of government.  It's the elected clowns you have to worry about.

[Kendra]

Denise, that's awesome!  Congrats - and now we are both eagerly waiting for that envelope to show up in the mail.

[Denise]

YAHOO!!!!

I opened the mailbox today and in it I found the ID princess came.  I received both my Social Security Card, Vehicle registration and my new DRIVER'S LICENSE!!!  Not too bad, just about a week.

Now I'm only waiting for Birth Certificate and Passport.

[Kendra]

Wow!  Right on.

[rmaddy]

YAHOO!!!!

I opened the mailbox today and in it I found the ID princess came.  I received both my Social Security Card, Vehicle registration and my new DRIVER'S LICENSE!!!  Not too bad, just about a week.

Now I'm only waiting for Birth Certificate and Passport.

Congrats!

[JennyBear]

YAHOO!!!!

I opened the mailbox today and in it I found the ID princess came.  I received both my Social Security Card, Vehicle registration and my new DRIVER'S LICENSE!!!  Not too bad, just about a week.

Now I'm only waiting for Birth Certificate and Passport.

    I wonder why the DMV didn't give you the new license on the spot and mailed it to you instead? Although if you only updated the marker, and not the photo, and did it by correspondence that would make sense I guess.

HUGS!

[Denise]

New policy in Indiana and in other states (Illinois at least) all new licenses are printed somewhere else and mailed.  I don't know why but I have a few guesses and all of them involve fraud of some sense.  You do receive a temporary paper license that's good for a while (30 days???) and has the picture and all the right (updated) information.  So you carry that around as your license.  I just didn't bother.  (Although I wish I had it with me when I had to replace my Chicago Transit pass which I registered at Denise.  But that's another story.)

[JennyBear]

New policy in Indiana and in other states (Illinois at least) all new licenses are printed somewhere else and mailed.  I don't know why but I have a few guesses and all of them involve fraud of some sense.  You do receive a temporary paper license that's good for a while (30 days???) and has the picture and all the right (updated) information.  So you carry that around as your license.  I just didn't bother.  (Although I wish I had it with me when I had to replace my Chicago Transit pass which I registered at Denise.  But that's another story.)

    I would think that that could increase chances of identity theft. Not handing the ID directly to the person that it is for would leave more room for fraud, not less. Putting it through the mail increases it's chance of being lost or stolen. But thanks for the clarification. I hope they don't go / haven't gone to that in Ohio.

HUGS!

[elkie-t]

Government wants to verify your address by mailing your I'd to you, simple.


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[JennyBear]

Government wants to verify your address by mailing your I'd to you, simple.

    Simple but unnecessary. You can use correspondence to verify address. And yes that can be faked, but if you can get the mail at the address on the correspondence, then you can get your ID there. If this is the reason, it's redundant and useless.

HUGS!

[Denise]

Consider this, if you tamper with the mail it becomes a federal offense.

If the licenses are printed in only one location, it's easier to secure it.

You will have a second system looking at the data for irregularities.

Personally I think it makes sense.

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