I went downtown earlier this week to complete and file the paperwork for a legal name change. The woman at the legal services help center told me that all I would need to do is file the paperwork, pay my fee, no court or anything like that and then just file a publication of the change. I was nervous about having to go to court, so I may sure to ask again specifically about that. Nope, no court. Due to the job I have, I have this (horrible) preconception that no one really know what they are talking about. Therefore, I asked the woman in the county clerk's office about court as well. Nope, no court. The I also asked the woman where I file my index number, nope, no court. All three of them gave me a phone number and told me to call it in 3-4 business days (which would be Monday) to see which judge I had and get the information about filing the publication. I got the same answer three times. I was satisfied, and ALL WAS WELL. Then..I get a letter in the mail today that I need to go to court for this. Ok...not happy. Then I look and the date is *bleeping* almost 3 months away!!!! None of my friends understand how upsetting this is to me. I finally had the 300 something dollars to get this done, so three months seems like a very long time after waiting this long. I know this is childish but I want it done now. It just sucks. My voice is redic deep now and it's causing a lot of difficulty for me. I had to spend 10 minutes convincing the woman that yes, indeed I was Jessica in order for her to speak to me about an account over the phone today. I have to give my legal name when I make phone calls at work. Ok sir, and what is your name? "Jessica". AWKWARD. I know many of you are in the same boat, so I am sorry to complain....I just needed to vent and you are the only people who would "get it".

We have the same name so I understand completely.
Sorry to hear it didn't go as planned. I would tell those people they misinformed me if I saw them again.

I'm filing for a name change over winter break.
Hopefully, I don't have to wait for a court date as long as you do.
>_<
That's ridiculous.

You might practice the "girl voice" for those telephone conversations that require it. I had to call the IRS this year and was really nervous about girlifying my baritone, but I was able to pull it off.

A note about the name change: Having a court date doesn't necessarily mean that you will actually appear before a judge. When I was divorced last year, a clerk ran around and did things, but we never actually saw the judge. The name change could be similar; a judge does have to sign your documentation, and the holidays tend to slow things down. I would call and ask again about the exact procedure.

My friends had to wait a long time for their court dates as well, but I think it was more like two months. They didn't have the holidays in the middle of it all.

I bet a lawyer would have solved those problems and got a better court date.

Quote from: Arch on December 04, 2011, 03:13:19 AM

A note about the name change: Having a court date doesn't necessarily mean that you will actually appear before a judge. When I was divorced last year, a clerk ran around and did things, but we never actually saw the judge. The name change could be similar; a judge does have to sign your documentation, and or the holidays tend to slow things down. I would call and ask again about the exact procedure.

Yeah, I'll try and call about the exact procedure. I guess it just makes me mad because I can't help but feel like if it wasn't for the reason why I want my name changed, it probably would have been just signed off on and done.

Quote from: tekla on December 04, 2011, 10:08:28 AM
I bet a lawyer would have solved those problems and got a better court date.

Yeah, possibly. Unfortunately, $1,200-1,500 as opposed to $300 is a big difference.

Oh I bet I could have found one for half that.  $3-600.   And I know money is an issue and all, but an amateur going into the legal system is pretty much like an amateur doing surgery.  The reason why they can get that kind of money is that it is an incredibly complex system that is designed to keep amateurs out of it in the first place (and for some pretty good reasons).  Arch is right, sometimes that judge thing - mostly I would bet - is a pro-forma signature/stamp done not by the judge, but by the judge's clerk.  A lawyer would know.  (A good lawyer would know a couple of those clerk of courts too and be able to get the siggy real fast.)  And a judge - being a judge and all - has the absolute discretion to do whatever they want, including that hearing and some do.  A lawyer would know that too.

Maybe it is different where you live. The filing fees alone are 300.00, so no way it could be done by a lawyer for a total of 300.00. I do have some legal knowledge, as I am working on my final two semesters for my Bachelor's in Pre-Law/Legal Studies and work in the legal support department for a very large bank. Granted, I don't have the pull of a lawyer or the relationships they have because I'm obviously not one, but filing these papers definently isn't rocket science. In this area, it actually is way more common for people to change their names without the use of a lawyer than with. The county has an online program specifically for name changes for people to do it themselves, and a resource center that has a court employee sit down with you to fill out forms.

Thanks for your input.

I'm sorry you're having these problems, Jesse.  But just think how satisfying it'll be to have your chosen name once all of this is over with. 

Quote from: Arch on December 04, 2011, 03:13:19 AM
You might practice the "girl voice" for those telephone conversations that require it. I had to call the IRS this year and was really nervous about girlifying my baritone, but I was able to pull it off.

I had to do this a couple times.  Not fun, but a lot better than explaining or arguing why I don't sound like [female name].

Quote from: tekla on December 04, 2011, 10:08:28 AM
I bet a lawyer would have solved those problems and got a better court date.

I agree with this completely.  I know it's not realistic for everyone, but for those that can afford it, it's so worth it.  Two weeks after hiring my attorney, I had my name and gender marker changed for $400.  She knew which judges would be best for it and got it done simply without hassle.  I didn't have to appear in court.

Name changes are easy peasy for attorneys, so they don't need to bill much time on such cases. But you still have to pay over and above the fees for the name change itself. I think that's what Tekla meant by the $300+ figure--it's in addition to the court fees.

My situation is a little more complicated. To get a birth certificate amendment card (my birth state won't give me a brand new BC), I need a court-ordered name change, and I don't have one. I changed my name by common use before 9/11 bollocksed everything up. So at some point I need an attorney who can figure out how to use the court system to simply confirm a name change that I already did fifteen years ago--but the link with my birth name still needs to be preserved so that I can use the documents to amend my BC. While I was there, I would also do a court-ordered sex change without paying extra court fees, but that's the only silver lining in this mess.

I imagine that the attorney's bill will be fairly sizable compared to the bill for a routine name change.

Quote from: tekla on December 04, 2011, 11:06:02 AM
Oh I bet I could have found one for half that.  $3-600.   And I know money is an issue and all, but an amateur going into the legal system is pretty much like an amateur doing surgery.  The reason why they can get that kind of money is that it is an incredibly complex system that is designed to keep amateurs out of it in the first place (and for some pretty good reasons).  Arch is right, sometimes that judge thing - mostly I would bet - is a pro-forma signature/stamp done not by the judge, but by the judge's clerk.  A lawyer would know.  (A good lawyer would know a couple of those clerk of courts too and be able to get the siggy real fast.)  And a judge - being a judge and all - has the absolute discretion to do whatever they want, including that hearing and some do.  A lawyer would know that too.

Everything you said is correct, but getting a lawyer for a name change seems kinda overkill.

I don't think I have a single trans friend who changed his or her name with the help of a lawyer. It was all...DIY.

Yeah....I called 3 lawyers in my area today and the lowest quote I got was 1350. I guess waiting isn't that bad in comparison.

Wow Jesse, I am in the exact same situation. Except my fee for filing the paper was $395 and I'm still waiting for my court hearing in the mail. After that I have to go to the next town over to publish the order of cause for change of name (I do NOT want it published in my city) then wait to receive my certificate of publication (another 4+ weeks) and I wanted this done before I started college so I didn't have to email my professors about calling me chase instead of my legal birth name. But classes are starting January 9th and it looks like that's what I'm going to have to do. my voice is deep too and I pass as male almost always. So filling out the forms and responding to "And you're (insert female name)" at the clerks office sucked. Just wanted to tell you I feel you man. And when you stated that once you got your court hearing and it said 3 MONTHS! I'm anxious to see what mine is, I thought it would be within a month. Thanks for sharing your experience with this because it's nice to know I'm not the only one struggling with this situation at the moment. I had a question for you about school also. Do you go by your legal birth name in classes? Or did you ask your professor to call you by your preferred name? If you did how did you go about asking? I'm trying to think of the most respectful, mature, and seriously taken email to write. Thanks dude.

Never been so glad to live in Washington. ~$100, same day service.

Everything you said is correct, but getting a lawyer for a name change seems kinda overkill.

Yeah and having a maid just to clean the bedroom seems like overkill too, until you watch her clean the rest of the house.  So lots of people have lawyers, and since it's a lawyer thing, I'd toss it to the lawyer, just like I toss the laundry to the maid.  I'm sure he'd be shocked to have me bring him something and say "Make this happen ASAP" instead of what he always hears from me... "Make this go away now."

Quote from: tekla on December 05, 2011, 11:33:14 PM
Everything you said is correct, but getting a lawyer for a name change seems kinda overkill.

Yeah and having a maid just to clean the bedroom seems like overkill too, until you watch her clean the rest of the house.  So lots of people have lawyers, and since it's a lawyer thing, I'd toss it to the lawyer, just like I toss the laundry to the maid.  I'm sure he'd be shocked to have me bring him something and say "Make this happen ASAP" instead of what he always hears from me... "Make this go away now."

I actually have a lawyer, and I used to be a maid, and tossing something you could pretty easily do yourself to either one of those people still seems kinda silly to me. I understand if you don't have time, or even if it isn't convenient (which negates the "pretty easily" part), but most people can spend roughly the same amount of time and effort filling out the paperwork and showing up etc as they would talking to a lawyer. Your signature is still needed, as is your presence.

Arch's situation notwithstanding.

I guess I'm not much of a fan of amateur DIY stuff, particularly when it might help to actually get someone who knows what they are doing.  Would you operate on yourself on your kitchen table?  Most people would not knowing they are not qualified, and whatever money they saved by skipping the doctor would hardly be worth it given the outcome.  Now a name change is not exactly that big a deal (more pro forma than anything else), but it works the same way.  There are huge numbers of people walking the streets today after doing the same crimes that other people are going to be sitting for a decade on.  The difference?  Past record of course, but after that - I'll bet its the lawyer.  Ask OJ. 

Its one of those things (and there are many of them) were training, skill, experience and knowledge pay off.  At least on occasion.  I know that we bid on stuff all the time and don't get the contract, only to have to go back 6 months later and not only do it right, but charge them up the yin-yang for tearing out the crap work done the first time, it's the same deal in a lot of ways.  I know that one good piece of hate mail on a legal letterhead gets much better results than five letters on mine.  So why not just start there and skip to the end?

And since all this is state by state - and in lots of cases, county by county - it pays to have someone with boots on the ground who knows what to do.  In Cali, it's so common that's it's been made easy - I pass the 'name change' window when I go to City Hall to drop off permits, but I bet in lots of rural areas, and I'm sure some of the Southern states it's harder, and one might actually have to show cause or other icky things.


tossing something you could pretty easily do yourself to either one of those people still seems kinda silly to me
Hey I guess I don't have to toss them the money then either.  I mean the guys up on the deck don't have to unload the truck, I could get up and do it.  But then I wouldn't have needed to book them in the first place.  BTW she doesn't actually do my laundry - I mean she would - but all she does is the sheets and towels and some of my GFs stuff.  I really hire her to clean everything but my office once a week so my GF doesn't have to - that's my contribution to trickle-down economics.  I only get to spend about 60% of my time there as it is, so I really don't want to spend it doing the oven.

I did it myself and still had to wait >1 month for a court date.  Unfortunately, courts are clogged, and name changes aren't top priority.  I agree that an attorney is unnecessary unless you have unusual circumstances, like Arch.


Jay

Okay Tekla. I don't have strong opinions on it. You do your thing however you want. Name change is easy most places, but it probably is hard for some people.

In my own case, I'm more worried about changing my social security name and dealing with my academic records. Driver's license should be easy where I'm at, and I'm very lucky with where I was born, as Texas has recently changed their laws so altering my birth certificate is very simple and cheap.