Currently, I am a resident of Ingham County, Michigan, which requires one year of residency to submit a petition for a legal name change.  I was born in Kern County, CA, and believe that if I wanted to change my name there, I'd have to be a resident. However, it is quite possible that I may have to move to either Chippewa County, Michigan, or Middlesex County, Massachusetts, pursuing job opportunities and lower living costs. I really wanted to file the name change ASAP, so I can actually apply to places with my chosen name rather than my legal name, which it hurts quite a bit to write onto applications. Moving would only complicate matters further. Having been born in California, I can submit a request for legal gender change anytime I want really for an amended birth certificate, but I'd prefer to have a court order for a legal name change attached to it too so I wouldn't have to do it twice. Anyone know about the law of these counties, perhaps I could circumvent the residency requirement here, or perhaps there's somewhere in, let's say, Louisiana, that doesn't require residency. I am definitely willing to travel if that's necessary.

I think your best bet is if you already meet the residency requirements for the county where you currently live to go ahead and get it taken care of before you move, unless you either have a reason you need to move before the process would be completed or you can't change your name now for other reasons (e.g. unable to afford it).

Another benefit of changing your name then moving (as opposed to the other way around) is that if you have to post a legal notice in a newspaper it becomes a lot less likely someone would run onto the notice from your new community (unless the paper posts them online - if you're concerned read more about that here).

QuoteCurrently, I am a resident of Ingham County, Michigan, which requires one year of residency to submit a petition for a legal name change.

Your OP isn't entirely clear. Have you lived there for at least 1 year? If so, why don't you just do it now? You don't seem to even know if you'll be moving at all, and don't seem to have a set moving date. If you read the Instructions for Name Change at the Ingham County website, it says once you file the hearing is scheduled in 6 to 8 weeks. That's not a long time. Plus, you have a cheap fee to publish the notice in!

If you don't meet the 1 year residency requirement, you can try to get the residency requirement waived.

Also, even if you do move after you file a petition and before the hearing date, you can always just fly back for the hearing.

QuoteMiddlesex County, Massachusetts, pursuing job opportunities and lower living costs.

I am up in Middlesex County a lot, it's wicked expensive! Where you're living now must be horrendous if Middlesex looks affordable.

At Middlesex, the residency requirement is 6 months (if I remember correctly), you can file to get it waived in certain circumstances, but I doubt they'll waive it in your case. Wavier of residency is more for exigent circumstances. Also, the publishing fee in Middlesex varies significantly depending upon where in Middlesex you live, it can be as little as $50 and I've even seen it as high as $300!  You'd need to file an Affidavit of Indigency and Determination of Fees & Costs if you can't afford the fees (court will determine if you qualify for waiver or reduction of fees).

Massachusetts' form for name change with instructions can be found here: http://www.mass.gov/courts/forms/pfc/pfc-forms-gen.html 

Quote from: Nimrata (aka LH) on May 20, 2014, 08:44:28 AMYour OP isn't entirely clear. Have you lived there for at least 1 year? If so, why don't you just do it now? You don't seem to even know if you'll be moving at all, and don't seem to have a set moving date. If you read the Instructions for Name Change at the Ingham County website, it says once you file the hearing is scheduled in 6 to 8 weeks. That's not a long time. Plus, you have a cheap fee to publish the notice in!

If you don't meet the 1 year residency requirement, you can try to get the residency requirement waived.

Also, even if you do move after you file a petition and before the hearing date, you can always just fly back for the hearing.

I am up in Middlesex County a lot, it's wicked expensive! Where you're living now must be horrendous if Middlesex looks affordable.

At Middlesex, the residency requirement is 6 months (if I remember correctly), you can file to get it waived in certain circumstances, but I doubt they'll waive it in your case. Wavier of residency is more for exigent circumstances. Also, the publishing fee in Middlesex varies significantly depending upon where in Middlesex you live, it can be as little as $50 and I've even seen it as high as $300!  You'd need to file an Affidavit of Indigency and Determination of Fees & Costs if you can't afford the fees (court will determine if you qualify for waiver or reduction of fees).

Massachusetts' form for name change with instructions can be found here: http://www.mass.gov/courts/forms/pfc/pfc-forms-gen.html

Only 9 months.
But then I realised I've been a resident of Mackinac County since birth, officially, since that's where my dad chose my permanent addresses. Only issue is that country is very, erm, rural, so I wouldn't be surprised if they denied it on something stupid.

By cheaper, I meant moving in with my dad

I realised the thing about Mackinac County a day or so after I wrote this, so I guess it's kinda irrelevant now
Only thing I'm confused on is do I just send the forms to the court? How am I supposed to tell them what days I'm available for the hearing? Will they send it to my permanent address (my grandparents' house?) How am I to explain that it was always my permanent address?
The newspaper thing shouldn't be hard, it said at least two weeks before your hearing, and it's in a newspaper nobody reads (everyone reads the Sault Tribune, not the St. Ignace Times)

And with the papers, I have to repeatedly sign them. Which name do they want? They don't make it clear. Don't want to have to consult a lawyer to help me figure this out (at least not one I have to pay )

Time to plan this with dad for a road trip up north, if he hasn't already moved back to Hanscom, and hope I get a job before that so I can pay the fee, then the fee to California after getting her to fill out a certain form, to send to them to amend both the name and gender on my BC. That's also confusing, as something I read said that it would have to have the original stapled to it to be valid, which seems strange for California.
And then make another road trip to the UP to get a new driver's licence once that's all fixed. Going to be a good month or two, at least, to fix this. Not exactly ideal, as a job I wanted to apply for that I would need it all fixed for closes on Tuesday (to be honest I've known about it less than a week and knew I wouldn't have enough time) but at least it'll be done before the first day I'm eligible for surgery.

QuoteBut then I realised I've been a resident of Mackinac County since birth, officially, since that's where my dad chose my permanent addresses. Only issue is that country is very, erm, rural, so I wouldn't be surprised if they denied it on something stupid.

If you do the paperwork right and don't have a criminal history, they really can't deny it. If they do, they're likely to have it reverse on appeal and may even get in trouble for it. I worked for some probate judges who were very conservative in rural areas, and they'd allow the trans* name changes, because they had to.

Quote from: Nimrata (aka LH) on May 25, 2014, 06:23:29 AMIf you do the paperwork right and don't have a criminal history, they really can't deny it. If they do, they're likely to have it reverse on appeal and may even get in trouble for it. I worked for some probate judges who were very conservative in rural areas, and they'd allow the trans* name changes, because they had to.

I doubt a few times in detention in high school counts as a criminal record
That's what I was thinking. Even if they were total dbags, I could appeal, however, save time and legal fees if I could avoid that altogether.

Quote from: Lauren5 on May 25, 2014, 06:28:31 AM
I doubt a few times in detention in high school counts as a criminal record
That's what I was thinking. Even if they were total dbags, I could appeal, however, save time and legal fees if I could avoid that altogether.

No, detention in school doesn't count (unless you got arrested or convicted in a court, and even then most juvenile offenses drop off your record once you're an adult unless you were tried as one).

Quote from: tgchar21 on May 25, 2014, 07:11:05 AMNo, detention in school doesn't count (unless you got arrested or convicted in a court, and even then most juvenile offenses drop off your record once you're an adult unless you were tried as one).

I know, it was just a joke

Lauren, if you're changing your name anywhere in MI here's some other tips I found:

Since you're still under 22 (according to your profile), doing your name change before then will save you from having to get fingerprinted (Michigan requires anyone 22 or older to have a fingerprint-based criminal record check in order to have a name change, but waives the requirement on anyone younger since they're not likely to be trying to hide a major crime they committed).

If you'd like a new birth certificate that does not mention your prior name, be sure and check on the form where it asks if you want to do that (otherwise, assuming you were born in MI, the amended BC will show the old information).