Court date for legal name change is next Monday. I'm going shopping with my mother this weekend for clothes to wear at court. I figure tshirt, blue jeans and sneakers are a no-no so I'm wondering...would a collared shirt, dress pants and dress shoes suffice? Or do I need something different?

The second outfit and add a tie if you can.

If I recall correctly I'm pretty sure that's what I wore. The whole court thing is pretty quick and painless so don't sweat it too much. You should dress nice but it doesn't need to be fancy or anything.

I would say yes with a tie for sure.

Need pictures please.

Whenever I've gone to court it's always been white shirt, suit and tie, name change may be a bit less formal though

When I had my court date I just wore a pair of khaki chinos with a casual button up and a pair of sneakers. For my name change I spent an hour waiting for my name to be called and then spent maybe a minute or two in the courtroom itself. My suggestion is just to make sure you're comfortable with what you wear and if you want to get dressed up, go for it! Best of luck to you and congrats on the court date! (that feels like an odd thing to say  )

I just dressed nicely, chinos, button down shirt, but no tie.  I went by myself because the person who was going with me became ill. I don't think it matters much except in a few states (like Texas) where it isn't pretty much automatic. I don't know re: your state but mostly but I never heard of anyone turned down here (NM). I think it's more if it is important for you to dress up. It took 5' except the waiting.


--Jay

Anything which comes under smart casual should suffice (You are not a defense attorney arguing before the jury anyway...). Tie would be nice too, but if You have something against them, then having a matching set of collared shirt on top of tee would be acceptable too (just try not to leave more than two open buttons).

I wore a polo, slacks, and a pair of borrowed dress shoes.  Anything more expensive or fancy would have been a waste imo.  The hearing lasted 10 minutes and only involved me, my lawyer, and the judge.

If I had worn a tie, I would have been way over dressed. only people in ties were the lawyers standing around waiting for other courtrooms.

I wore black pants and a collared shirt, no jacket. Khakis would haves been more than fine. Unless you live in some weird state that is known to have issues with trans people changing their names, it will likely take 5 minutes once it is your turn, and the judge will just robotically go through the motions.

I didn't even need to schedule a court date though, you just filled out a form and signed up for the next slot that same afternoon. It seems like a much bigger deal in some places, so YMMV. I can't imagine what a lawyer would have added to the process, other than to charge me for standing there while the judge asked me 3 stock questions I answered with one word each time.

Thanks everyone. I need the stuff anyways as I don't have any formal men clothing and I'll need them for work. Oh and I'm doing the name change through TLDEF so it's not costing me a cent since I'm unemployed.

QuoteI need the stuff anyways as I don't have any formal men clothing and I'll need them for work.

In that case, you might want to get clothes that would be appropriate for job interviews -- a notch or two more formal than what you'd normally be wearing at work. Your mom oughta be in favor of that, too.

Quote from: Tysilio on January 30, 2015, 08:54:30 AM
In that case, you might want to get clothes that would be appropriate for job interviews -- a notch or two more formal than what you'd normally be wearing at work. Your mom oughta be in favor of that, too.

Lol I'm guessing. XD
So collared shirt, tie, dress pants and dress shoes? XD

The only item that i know the courts don't want to see is someone wearing a hat.

You'll see all kinds of people there, and all levels of dress...jeans+T-shirt to suit and tie.

I always dressed as if I were going to church, "neat and tidy, serviceable clothes without holes or stains."

Good luck with the name change!

Quote from: DragonBeer on January 30, 2015, 10:07:32 AM
Lol I'm guessing. XD
So collared shirt, tie, dress pants and dress shoes? XD

yup! good luck

I agree re: ties. I'm pretty much overdressed any time I wear a tie. Ties are "high powered dress" like bankers and so on.

I also agree that this that the judge went thru the robotic motions. I heard some judges are very nice like wishing the person luck and so on. Mine was not, misgendered me and so on. But they won't deny it unless you live in some state where things are generally like that. There has to be some legal reason to deny it.

I was in a court room, but was all by myself. It was a little odd actually. I think the big bucks were for the court room.

--Jay

Quote from: spacerace on January 30, 2015, 08:01:19 AM
If I had worn a tie, I would have been way over dressed. only people in ties were the lawyers standing around waiting for other courtrooms.

I wore black pants and a collared shirt, no jacket. Khakis would haves been more than fine. Unless you live in some weird state that is known to have issues with trans people changing their names, it will likely take 5 minutes once it is your turn, and the judge will just robotically go through the motions.

I didn't even need to schedule a court date though, you just filled out a form and signed up for the next slot that same afternoon. It seems like a much bigger deal in some places, so YMMV. I can't imagine what a lawyer would have added to the process, other than to charge me for standing there while the judge asked me 3 stock questions I answered with one word each time.

Quote from: JayTies are "high powered dress" like bankers and so on.

It sorta depends where you are. Things are a lot more formal in the Bos-Wash states; I lived in MA for a long time and I would definitely have worn a tie for a court date. I think the Midwest, where I live now, is probably somewhere in between that and NM -- around here ties are pretty common wear for good restaurants, the Symphony, and such. A tie, and possibly a jacket, would be essential if one were interviewing for an actual salaried job.

I'm in NYC so I expect I need to be properly dressed. XD

Yeah I definitely agree. Things are so button down here, that I can almost not think of any place to wear a suit. I have worn ties because I like to. But I feel overdressed when I do. NM is very casual. The OP is in NYC. So I would guess much more formal.

--Jay

Quote from: Tysilio on January 30, 2015, 12:15:40 PM
It sorta depends where you are. Things are a lot more formal in the Bos-Wash states; I lived in MA for a long time and I would definitely have worn a tie for a court date. I think the Midwest, where I live now, is probably somewhere in between that and NM -- around here ties are pretty common wear for good restaurants, the Symphony, and such. A tie, and possibly a jacket, would be essential if one were interviewing for an actual salaried job.

I wore a black long sleeve button up shirt, khakis and black dress shoes. Tie is not needed but if you want to, go for it. Good luck.