I am looking to get my name legally changed in New Jersey soon, but I read a lot of conflicting things online in terms of whether or not to get legal assistance. Hiring a lawyer is too expensive for me but I have heard of other options like document preparation services. Any experiences/advice?
Generally it isn't necessary. It's fairly simple and straight forward, but the process will be different from place to place. I didn't need legal representation where I live, but I also live in Washington state.
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Mariah
It's not, but I preferred having it. Expensive, or in comparison to a lot of other places, cheap for me. I paid about $600 or so for a lawyer to fix up the papers and come with me to the court. I'd never been in a court room before so it was nice having someone familiar.
It wasn't necessary for me and definitely cheaper.
As others have said if you have the appropriate forms for your state you can usually navigate the process on your own. You'd probably need representation only if the judge is having a hard time granting your name change (either because he/she is transphobic and - usually illegally - denying your name change, or because you have reasons like a criminal history or massive debts which are legitimate for a judge to question your name change).
Quote from: tgchar21 on June 03, 2015, 07:11:45 AM
As others have said if you have the appropriate forms for your state you can usually navigate the process on your own. You'd probably need representation only if the judge is having a hard time granting your name change (either because he/she is transphobic and - usually illegally - denying your name change, or because you have reasons like a criminal history or massive debts which are legitimate for a judge to question your name change).
True, I'm sure I'd be fine. I do have a misdemeanor charge in a different state than where I'm changing my name pending, but it will be dismissed. Could be as soon as August, could be as late as January, I'm not sure. I'd have to ask my lawyer. Do you think that would affect the judge's decision even though its in another state?
I suppose it depends on how contentious you think the state is likely to be.
I filed my name change in Connecticut and having a lawyer would have been ludicrous overkill; I basically had to fill out a fairly simple form and pay a fee ($50 or so, I think) and then chat with a judge in a bland conference room for 10 minutes. No publication requirement, and no legal tangles that a lawyer would have been helpful for.
So it might be a good idea to check out the process and documents required in NJ and see if any of it seems less than straightforward.
Looks like the NJ process is a bit of a pain, but here you go.
https://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/prose/10551_namechg_adult.pdf
Here's a handy guide (http://www.tsroadmap.com/reality/name-change.html) to the name change process, from TSroadmap.com. (This looks like a really useful website, although it's geared to trans women.)
You might want to get legal advice, given the pending misdemeanor charge. The main thing is to convince the court that you're not trying to duck it. A lot of LGBT organizations, many state-based, have legal staff who can answer questions or refer you to lawyers who'll represent you. Legal Services of New Jersey (http://www.lsnj.org/) provides legal help to low-income residents, and they specifically include transgender law as one of the areas they deal with, so that might be a good place to start if you qualify.
I did it myself in NJ last year and the hardest part was the initial paperwork, but it really wasn't that bad at all. The CIS form is the hardest to figure out since there is <name> vs <name>. (You use INRE: <your old name>) in that field. The judges secretary called me up and helped me through it all, but I had everything in order anyway. (Other people I know that went through the process didn't get as much personal contact with the court, but I did put being transgender transitioning from Male to Female as the reason for my name change.)
You will have to disclose any pending charges even though they are in a different state, but as long as your honest about everything you shouldn't have an issue. If something changes on those pending charged from the time to file till your court date (typically 4-6 weeks) you can address them on your court date. The court will simply require you to notify the other jurisdiction of the pending case of your name change. However you may need proof of that. On the form there is a part for NJ pending courts cases or probation (if that applies), and that could be used to notify the other jurisdiction even though they are out of state.
Check in your state for free or low cost legal resources. The LGBTQ clinic where I live does a once a month name and gender marker change legal clinic where you can sit with lawyers for free and they'll get through as much paperwork with you as they can in the time allotted. Though we didn't get through everything I needed (lots of other people waiting to be seen), they did help me put together the documents I was having the most trouble with.
In my county in Ohio, the name change has to be circulated in the newspaper for 30 days. So much for being stealth, eh? It also has to have your address in the circulation. I don't feel safe about this.
Quote from: Axis Langton on June 05, 2015, 04:04:07 PM
In my county in Ohio, the name change has to be circulated in the newspaper for 30 days. So much for being stealth, eh? It also has to have your address in the circulation. I don't feel safe about this.
I searched for the name change rules in Ohio, and that "30 days" means that the notice has to be at least 30 days before the hearing (it has to actually be published only once, if you thought that meant it had to run every day for 30 days).
Ah, I thought it had to be published once and left in the paper for a month. Thanks.