One personal decision can create a mess of financial challenges for transgender

[Jessica_Rose]

One personal decision can create a mess of financial challenges for transgender Americans—'it takes a lot of courage'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/one-personal-decision-can-create-a-mess-of-financial-challenges-for-transgender-americans-it-takes-a-lot-of-courage/ar-AA1o2WB2?ocid=windirect&cvid=fb2ce814925e4a7db3dcb4df9b2114a6&ei=42

Story by Kamaron McNair (May 2024)

Changing their name may be an important step a transgender or nonbinary person takes to embrace their identity.

... Even if you get through the lengthy and complicated process to legally change your name, there are often more hurdles ahead.

"You have a new name that doesn't match your driver's license, or the name on your lease for your apartment, or the name on your credit cards, so it becomes an issue where these [financial] institutions think that we're fraudulent," Leo Aquino, a personal finance journalist and educator who founded Queer and Trans Wealth, tells CNBC Make It. "You're automatically sort of looked at as...a person who's trying to get one over on us, which is simply not true."

Trans and nonbinary people may face additional challenges than those changing their name for other reasons.

"There are clear processes for updating the change of last name because of marriage and divorce — our legal system is built to support those changes," Shelby Anderson, executive director of wealth planning and advice at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, tells CNBC Make It. "But the U.S. has been slow to develop [policies] to address other changes, like [gender] identity and first names."

[LoriDee]

When I changed my legal name here in South Dakota, I challenged the requirement to post a Notice of Hearing in the local paper. It shows the old name and the new name and must be published once per week for four weeks. Not very private.

I was told that the reason is to prevent identity theft, people dodging warrants or child support, or maybe they are listed as a Sex Offender. The date of the hearing is published so that anyone wishing to challenge the name change, (for any of those reasons), can appear in court and present the challenge to the judge. Since it is a hearing, the petitioner has the opportunity to provide the court with an explanation. All of this is done in a public hearing and becomes a part of the public record.

I have heard of people requesting the record be sealed, but I don't see any reason to do that. Once I had the court order there was nothing anyone could do about anyway.

[Moonflower]

When I changed my legal name here in South Dakota, I challenged the requirement to post a Notice of Hearing in the local paper. It shows the old name and the new name and must be published once per week for four weeks. Not very private.

As a man, my spouse did NOT like attracting attention. We appreciated that the lawyer arranged for no newspaper notice and the sealed court record. Besides, no newspaper announcement saved us money and sped up the process.

As a woman, my wife LOVES advocating for transwomen. She is stressed out by subtly hostile people, but believes that she undermines their transphobia as she presents an example of a pleasant, mature, reasonable transwoman. She believes that being "out" is her responsibility as a transwoman.

I am amazed that she is enthusiastically getting us to places to change her name in person.

I was told that the reason is to prevent identity theft, people dodging warrants or child support, or maybe they are listed as a Sex Offender.

Her court petition stated that she was not stealing anyone's identity, not dodging anything, and never any kind of a criminal, etc. I understand that each state handles such risks differently.