has anyone here legally changed a minors name ...

[lauren grier]

outside of an adoption situation? I know it's a long shot but.. I was just curious. I know the laws/regulations vary state to state... but I wanted to see if any one had gone through the process etc.

[lauren grier]

or knows anyone who did for that matter

[Traci Reed]

I'm reading that name changes require court orders except in cases of (female) divorce, marriage or (child) adoption

[lauren grier]

yeh you need to petition the court.. I can do it easily... kidlet not so much from what i understand..

[Traci Reed]

Also:

It is possible, however, to change a child’s name without the process of adoption through petitioning the court for a name change by filing certain paperwork. How this works will vary from state to state, and while in the simplest cases you may be able to fill out the forms yourself, you will likely need to consult a lawyer or a legal aid society. You will also need to demonstrate that you have notified (or, if he is long gone, attempted to notify) the child’s natural father of your desire to change the child’s name. In some states, the natural father’s consent is required; in others, it is not. The court will weigh whether or not the name change is in the child’s best interests and will accept or deny the petition accordingly.

[lauren grier]

yeah i saw that, there's a lot of stuff out there, i'm just looking to hear if anyone has a personal experience

[jessica31876]

I think my sister did. I can ask her but she is most likely at work (works two jobs) so when I get ahold of her I can let you know. Ill try calling her real quick though.

[lauren grier]

no rush :] I just want to know how lengthy/difficult/costly/etc etc the process was first hand. Google only gets you so far.. ^_^

[jessica31876]

so no I guess sbe did not have my nephews name changed. He just decided he no longer wanted to use his dads last name and started using my sisters maiden name most of the time. It was never done legally through the courts though. So Im not sure that will help you Sorry.

Oh I should add he still has to obviously use the other name for legal stuff...everything else he put down my sisters last name

[MommaTrish]

My aunt had her youngest daughter's name changed. I can't rememeber what all she did, or ask her since she's not speaking to any of the family except my grandmother, but if I remember correctly it took her about a year to do it and the father had to agree.

[Nikki Epperson]

When my dad signed his rights to us away, my brother changed his name. He was 10 or 11 I think. My grandparent's gave the change to him for Christmas. I'm unsure of the cost, but they talked to my brother in length (at court) about why HE wanted his name changed. They didn't want to talk to my mom about it very much at all. Just Dustin and WHY he would want to change his name to Mom's maiden name.

That was of course, like 20 years ago now. lol, I so don't have anything current to share.

[SmallFry73]

I know my DH's baby-mama wanted to change his daughter's last name and DH said NO! So in Wisconsin if the father doesn't agree, it can't be done.

I'm sure that didn't help you much, just wanted to put in my 2 cents.

[lauren grier]

Thanks guys :]
and yeh nikki.. this is def something he wants.. I was just going to leave our names as is but he's been pretty adament about it. I'm *pretty* (not 100%) sure due to some of our circumstances that we'll have some wiggle room but who knows.

[Angie4b1g]

My MIL did. She changed dh's name when he was 11 to match her new husband's.

The only time it affects him now is any time he has to show his birth certificate he also has to show his name change order. No biggie, really. And it's weird when people are like "oh are you related to so and so Kovacs?" and he has to decide whether or not to explain that he's not really a Kovacs. But, you won't have that problem because you aren't changing his name to something random (although I think you totally should. lol).

[lauren grier]

lol he totally wants random. or skywalker. he's a problem. lol

[Angie4b1g]

Ok maybe not Skywalker. LOL

[Nikki Epperson]

I hope it's a good amount of wiggle room for you. If he, at his age, is this adamant already, maybe a judge will take that into consideration. Again, I don't know the cost, and it was a long time ago, but I think it's definitely something you should make some calls about. Can you try calling an attorney for free advice about what steps to take?

[Nikki Epperson]

and I vote for Skywalker.

La and Ce Skywalker. I love it!

[meems]

I went through a name change when I was a kid. My mother decided to change my first name from my given Korean name to Mimi. Don't remember how old I was. Don't remember what was involved. This was in the last century. I have some sort of paper about it somewhere. Basically I am of no help.

[mummytothree]

I had a girlfriend (after a divorce) change her name back to her maiden name about 6 years ago in the state of Ohio and it took her 8 months and about $3000 bucks!!! I know that won't help you with Ce...but it might help you with you. The sickening part of that {this} is to change her name for marriage it only cost her $40 freaking bucks: the cost of the marriage license :lame:

[MommaTrish]

lol After mentioning this to my husband he gave me this look like I must be stupid and asked why I didn't just ask him. I totally forgot he got part of his name legally changed. He originally had four names and wanted to drop his second middle name (his mom's maiden name). Really he wanted to change that and his last name too after his parents gave him to his grandparents, but his grandparents wouldn't consent to the last name change. (He wanted it changed to their last name - but they felt he might regret that should he ever reconnect with his father) He was 7 or 8, and he said just to get his second middle name removed it cost quite a bit of money. His parents weren't asked since they'd forfeited custody of him and the judge said he was old enough to know his own mind.

[Julie Billingsley]

I had Jacob's name changed in Oregon in part of Tom's adopting him. It only cost $55.

[Julie Billingsley]

Hey La,
I found this... might not be the right court system in RI for you, it is part of the probate section, but hopefully helps.
Fee Schedule says $38.50 for name change- http://www.providenceri.com/probate/fee_schedule.pdf
Form- http://www.providenceri.com/probate/...hange_form.pdf
Probate section with hours and info- http://www.providenceri.com/probate/

[ZaCola3]

We did-In Illinois it was pretty easy...
We had to request a court date and then pay court costs-It cost right at $100. Zak was old enough that he had to stand in front of a judge and he asked him if that was what he wanted (when he was born I gave him my maiden name but once Scott and I were married he wanted Grover), of course Zak said yes, and then we had to pay $25 to the State of Illinois to change his Birth Certificate.

Not sure how it works in any other circumstance.

[nonnie]

This is a good topic - thanks Lauren - My son wants to change his name to Jay's last name. We keep saying we are going to do this..... Thanks for the reminder

[schock77]

Originally Posted by meems

I went through a name change when I was a kid. My mother decided to change my first name from my given Korean name to Mimi. Don't remember how old I was. Don't remember what was involved. This was in the last century. I have some sort of paper about it somewhere. Basically I am of no help.

I missed Mimi's comments! You crack me up! And la... I think Skywalker is awesome

[jessica31876]

here in the state of florida you are asked if you want to keep your married name or go back to your maiden name. That is wierd that it was not something that was included in the divorce decree. Although just because that is included in the divorce decree does not mean crap. My sister (same one I was talking about before) had it in hers and the lady she dealt with at the social security office after showing her her drivers license with her maiden name and the divorce decree refused to issue her a new social securoty card with her maiden name.

Originally Posted by mummytothree

I had a girlfriend (after a divorce) change her name back to her maiden name about 6 years ago in the state of Ohio and it took her 8 months and about $3000 bucks!!! I know that won't help you with Ce...but it might help you with you. The sickening part of that {this} is to change her name for marriage it only cost her $40 freaking bucks: the cost of the marriage license :lame:

[lovely1m]

My cousins had their last name legally changed. They had to notify the biological father and when he didn't show up to the court date, they got it changed easy enough.

[lauren grier]

thank you so so much everyone! and thanks for the links julie.. I'm def going to be trying to find an attorney in the begining part of the year next year-- to hopefully get a lot of things taken care of - so fingers crossed.

[newfiemountiewife]

Originally Posted by meems

I went through a name change when I was a kid. My mother decided to change my first name from my given Korean name to Mimi. Don't remember how old I was. Don't remember what was involved. This was in the last century. I have some sort of paper about it somewhere. Basically I am of no help.

This made me snort laugh hahahaha!

[kim21673]

Our oldest DS changed his name but it was through an adoption so it cost about $2000. I can't remember what the breakdown of what things cost....it was a while ago!!

[sigmakap95]

I have a friend who decided to change her daughter's first name about 6 months after she was born because she and her husband decided they didn't like it that much. They made it sound pretty easy, but they were both in agreement and I think only had to fill out some papers and go down to the courthouse - and of course get a new SS card, etc.

[EvaK]

I had my youngest's last name changed to match my hubby's when he was an infant. All we had to do was file a Motion and then wait a specific amount of time for any objections (which there weren't any) and then an Order was entered with the Court. It cost less than $100. I didn't have to pay any attorney fees since I worked for an attorney at the time -- and I did all of the paperwork myself. My attorney did have to go to Court on the day the Order was on the docket -- but that was the only Court appearance.

Each state is different -- but regardless it should be a pretty straight forward process. Just be sure to find a lawyer that doesn't charge you an arm and a leg for something that takes less than an hour of his time.

Eva

[Stacey42]

My step nephew, who is 14 now had his last name changed to my brother's a year or so ago. My brother had been married to my step nephew's mom for about 6 years at that point. The boy's dad was in and out of th epicture. They at one point tried to get an adoption process going but the dad resurfaced & refused. Around the time he was 12 my SN told his family he didn't have to be adopted, he just wanted to change his last name. There was some legal and family wrangling, some lawyers because the kid's dad is a real piece of work and basically said he'd agree to the name change if my brother paid him off. My brother didn't pay him off and they all went to court and no one knows exactly what my step nephew told the judge because they weren't allowed in the room but he had his name changed, despite his birth father's shenanigans.
Due to the dad dragging the lawyers in it cost $$$ to do it. Otherwise I think it would have been about $200

[Angie4b1g]

I'm in love with Mimi.

[eloise24]

My parents had my last name changed (and my two brothers) when I was 16. (When we were born, being the hippies that they were, my parents just gave me my mom's last name. When we got older, it was so confusing and my mom wanted people to know they were married, etc. So we all had our names changed).

It wasn't a very big deal, we didn't have to go to court, just filled out paperwork.

Erika