Who can request that the name of a person younger than eighteen (a minor child) be changed?
Both parents of a minor child may agree and request to change their child’s name. Or, if a court has awarded one of the parents sole custody, that parent may ask for permission to change his child’s name. If both parents share legal custody of their child, then both parents must agree to change their child’s name1.
Who can request that the name of an adult be changed?
- Any adult may ask a court to order his name be changed. This adult must have a reasonable reason for the request and a court must approve the change.
What parts of a person’s name can be changed?
- A person’s first, middle, last, or any combination of these can be changed.
Is there a limit on how long the new name can be?
- Yes, the Louisiana Vital Records Registry (“VRR”) sets a limit on how many characters a new name can be. The limit is large enough to allow long names but it’s not unlimited. The entire name must be able to fit into boxes of the birth certificate form.
What kind of condition could prevent approval of a name change request?
- If a parent with joint legal custody of a minor objects to her child’s name change, that objection will probably prevent it, unless exceptional circumstances can be proven, and the change would clearly benefit the minor child. Also, if an adult’s criminal history lead the local district attorney to believe that person’s name should not be changed. It’s likely a court would not change a person’s name over the objection of a local DA.
Examples of why people want to ask for a change a name—
- One example: you learn of an error made by VRR and you want to correct that error. Another: you just do not like your current name, because it reminds you, or identifies you with, of a person with whom you have hard feelings or associate past trauma. Maybe the new name signifies a new chapter in your life, a new start. A child’s name is usually changed when that child is adopted. Even adults can be adopted by another adult and often, the adoptee wants to change his name to match the last name of the person adopting.
The typical process–
- An adult, either on behalf of her child, or herself, submits a written request, in proper form, to the proper court, asking it to order a name change. The written request must explain the reason for the request and the request must be delivered to the local district attorney’s office. The DA will consider the request and evaluate the person’s criminal history. It will respond to the court and either take no position or it will object to the request. If it takes no position, that means it does not object. If it objects, a court may still grant the name change request but it’s unlikely it will. It may take some persuasion to convince the court the name change is not a bad or dangerous outcome. If the court grants the request, the person will receive a copy of the written decision. This written decision is called a “judgment.” This judgment will be sent to the person who asked for the change and this person must bring this judgment and have it “recorded” with that parish’s clerk of court’s public records.
Does a person need an attorney to ask for a name to change?
- An attorney is not required for this process but even though its relatively not too complicated of a process, hiring an attorney who knows how the process works and who can keep the process from getting snagged along the way is probably worth the fee paid to that attorney. I have seen others trying to accomplish a name change on their own with poor results. These people got some of the process right but when they omitted important parts or didn’t know what to say or who to call, the people called the court to ask for help. Unfortunately, the court’s staff cannot give legal advice, so these people were stuck . . . until I overheard the frustration and diagnosed the problem. Some non-attorneys can figure out the process, but most should not expect it to go smoothly if they try it without professional help.
If a court agrees to change a person’s name, does that court order automatically change that person’s name of his birth certificate?
- No, getting VRR to amend your birth certificate by substituting your new name is separate from the court process. Not only that, the VRR process must be followed explicitly; VRR is strict (and not forgiving) when changing the public records.
How long can the process take?
- The name change process in the court system usually takes at least forty-five days to two months. If a person asks VRR to amend a birth certificate, that process could take an extra three to five months.
1 An exception to this rule may be available under certain circumstances. Check with us if you want us to analyze if this exception might apply.