I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about legally changing my name and gender markers.
I've been out for just a few months, and I've been on HRT for a little over a month now.
I live full-time, and I've been going by my preferred name for 10 years now (I'm 24).
I'd like to be able to find a lawyer that can help with this, if at all possible.
I've been tempted to use those pay sites that help with Name change, but I'm wary of spending the money on them.
I live in Houston, TX.

Welcome to Susan's Place. You will need to find out what the state requirements are for changing your name and then accumulate the required paper work. Once you have everything you need, you fill out the required paper work and submit it to the court. Most people change their birth certificate without using a lawyer as it's most checking all the correct boxes. When you appear before the judge, it's more to prove you are the person who wants to change their name and not like you are on trial. The only money you need to spend would be on court fees and publication of the name change if required.

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Quote from: Dena on November 20, 2016, 11:22:22 AM
Welcome to Susan's Place. You will need to find out what the state requirements are for changing your name and then accumulate the required paper work. Once you have everything you need, you fill out the required paper work and submit it to the court. Most people change their birth certificate without using a lawyer as it's most checking all the correct boxes. When you appear before the judge, it's more to prove you are the person who wants to change their name and not like you are on trial. The only money you need to spend would be on court fees and publication of the name change if required.

We issue to all new members the following links so you will best be able to use the web site.

Things that you should read

• Site Terms of Service and rules to live by
  
• Standard Terms and Definitions
  
• Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar)
  
• Reputation rules
  
• News posting & quoting guidelines
  
• Photo, avatars, and signature images policy
  

Yeah, I know that each state has their own requirements for changing gender, and if I want to change it on my birth certificate, that's where things get complicated.
Because I was born in Delaware, and that state requires that I have surgery. I'm not entirely sure how that would work, since I live in Texas and I haven't lived in Delaware since I was an infant.

Delaware still has your birth certificate so you need to go by the laws of Delaware. They will require paper work, most likely a court order to change your name and the surgery paper work before they will alter your paper work. In my case I was born in Wisconsin but live in Arizona so I to will need to get a court ordered name change from Arizona and with my surgical paperwork, I can alter my birth certificate. It kind of smells because I need to publish my name change even though I last used my old name about 34 years ago. Currently the only thing in my old name is my birth certificate.

Since you are a Texas resident, you'd need to find out the Texas requirements for a legal name change.  Gender marker change for passport and Social security are federal and have the same rules for all of the USA; look on the web site for each.  Basically, they want a letter from a "medical provider", the Passport website has a sample letter.  Drivers license rules for gender change would again be Texas.

These are probably the most urgent ID changes you need, especially the passport and Social Security changes, since the incoming administration may change the requirements.  Our local attorney recommends getting the gender marker change ASAP, even if you don't have a name change yet.

Birth certificate name and/or gender change rules are set by the state you were born in (Delaware), it doesn't matter where you live now.  My experience is that people rarely ask for a birth certificate -- when I was told I needed it for my name change, I couldn't find mine and had to order a new copy.

I would suggest going to your local LGBT center and ask for recommendations for legal help.  Especially at this time, there should be low cost or free legal aid available for name and gender changes.

TX is a pretty tough state to do your name and gender changes, since they both require court orders before you can change your ID.  Name change starts with fingerprinting, then filing a name petition in court, and from what I understand, TX is averse to issuing either order. I'm not sure if gender can be modified in TX without surgery.

After  you've completed your surgery, file your gender change petition in court, and hope that a TX judge will approve it.  Once you have that gender change order, send both orders to Delaware and wait for them to amend your birth certificate. 

Considering the potential for upcoming post-election complications, if you have the money, you could also temporarily move to an "easy" state like CA or WA to get your name/gender change orders and change your ID for pretty cheap.  (airfare + court fees + 1 month temp housing)  PM me if you have any questions.

I am also in Houston and working on my transition. I was given a name of a lawyer in San Antonio who does the changes for free. All it costs is the filling fee. If you want to contact me I'll be glad to give you his name

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A TX judge can issue an order changing gender, but anecdotal evidence suggests that such orders are hard to come by in that state.  Further, many TX judges may also require letters certifying that surgery is complete before issuing such court orders.  Unless you're post-op, pursuing a gender change in TX may be exceedingly frustrating and difficult.  (though name change shouldn't be too problematic)  Hopefully your attorney will file the case somewhere with a sympathetic judge and you can get it done without any issues. 

In my opinion, considering the potential for upcoming problematic changes, going out of state and getting things done may be a faster and easier solution if you're pre-op, but everyone will have their own preferences.