TOTALLY GEEKED!

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Name changes

karl271 · Guru

Had a couple of friends in the US change their names. Does not seem to be a big deal. Probably need a lawyer and some justification for the name change and it is usually granted. Now, how much does the lawyer cost and is it really necessary? Do not know. If you have access to any kind of legal advice for free service in your area, start there.

Lindley · Guru

Maybe check with the courthouse in your county.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

I found a starting place! Thank you both.

FNW · Guru

Once it's done in the courts, then you will need to change driver's license, social security card, passports, credit cards, not to mention the on-line accounts you may have like frequent flier accounts, memberships, etc.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

FNW wrote:
Once it's done in the courts, then you will need to change driver's license, social security card, passports, credit cards, not to mention the on-line accounts you may have like frequent flier accounts, memberships, etc.

Yeah. I've thought about all of that.

But I don't have a lot of things that would need changed.

A driver's license, a bank account, my medicare, and social security.

Those are the only legal changes I'd need to make.

Forever Sunshine · Guru

I changed my name back to my maiden name during the final decree of my divorce. It was much easier to do then and didn't cost anything since I was already paying for the divorce. The Judge did ask why but didn't seem to care much about the answer. lol I still had my SS card from when I was a teen with my maiden name on it so didn't need to reapply for that. But, changing all the other things was fairly easy, just time consuming.

Hope it goes smoothly for you, Lily.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

I had the option when I divorced, but my ex was adamant that the kids keep his name, so I kept it so I'd have the same name my kids had.

Forever Sunshine · Guru

My ex didn't have a say in it but I did ask my son if he'd have any issues with us having different last names. He wanted to change to my maiden name as well and I was ok with him doing it but I did explain that no matter what name he used, he's still his father's son and the last of the men to carry the name. He decided to keep it.

Momala · Great cook-happy wife-superb fisherman

FS ~
Your son was very wise. Its hard
to let a name die out.

My nephew is the last with my
maiden name. At the moment,
he shows no sign of marrying or
having children.

Oh well.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Here, and when I divorced my kids were 4, 1, and 6 months, my ex made a huge stink about their names.

Forever Sunshine · Guru

Momala wrote:

FS ~
Your son was very wise. Its hard
to let a name die out.

My nephew is the last with my
maiden name. At the moment,
he shows no sign of marrying or
having children.

Oh well.

Well, as I explained to him, even with a name change, he still carries half his father's DNA.

How old is your nephew? Perhaps there's time he'll find someone and have children?

Forever Sunshine · Guru

lilyofcourse wrote:
Here, and when I divorced my kids were 4, 1, and 6 months, my ex made a huge stink about their names.

I can understand your ex wanting the kids to keep his name but you could've changed yours at the time. Having a different last name than your kids really wasn't a big deal. For me, that was 40 years ago and no one blinked about it.

Momala · Great cook-happy wife-superb fisherman

He's 43, and just doesn't seem
interested in dating. Neither
does his sister, who's 40.

FNW · Guru

Forever Sunshine wrote:
I changed my name back to my maiden name during the final decree of my divorce. It was much easier to do then and didn't cost anything since I was already paying for the divorce. The Judge did ask why but didn't seem to care much about the answer. lol I still had my SS card from when I was a teen with my maiden name on it so didn't need to reapply for that. But, changing all the other things was fairly easy, just time consuming.

Hope it goes smoothly for you, Lily.

I'm not positive and haven't done any research, but I think if you changed it with SSA to married name then you have to change it back to maiden name even if you still have your old card lying around the house. At least if you want to get benefits at some point. Maybe LL can chime in if she knows for sure.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Forever Sunshine wrote:
lilyofcourse wrote:
Here, and when I divorced my kids were 4, 1, and 6 months, my ex made a huge stink about their names.
I can understand your ex wanting the kids to keep his name but you could've changed yours at the time. Having a different last name than your kids really wasn't a big deal. For me, that was 40 years ago and no one blinked about it.

It was important to me. I didn't want to have a different last name than them. It mattered to me, I didn't care about any one else, or what they thought.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

And as for his wanting them to have his last name, he wasn't involved at all, he was nothing more than a sperms donor. His big stink was all about his need to control me.

Well, I've talked to the boys, they want to change their names too, and they have for years.

So that's what will happen.

I'll ask Caitlyn, it'll be up to her.

Forever Sunshine · Guru

FNW wrote:
Forever Sunshine wrote:
I changed my name back to my maiden name during the final decree of my divorce. It was much easier to do then and didn't cost anything since I was already paying for the divorce. The Judge did ask why but didn't seem to care much about the answer. lol I still had my SS card from when I was a teen with my maiden name on it so didn't need to reapply for that. But, changing all the other things was fairly easy, just time consuming.

Hope it goes smoothly for you, Lily.
I'm not positive and haven't done any research, but I think if you changed it with SSA to married name then you have to change it back to maiden name even if you still have your old card lying around the house. At least if you want to get benefits at some point. Maybe LL can chime in if she knows for sure.

I'm already getting my benefits and had no trouble using my old card. The number doesn't change so not sure what the difference would be in getting a new card.

Forever Sunshine · Guru

lilyofcourse wrote:
Forever Sunshine wrote:
lilyofcourse wrote:
Here, and when I divorced my kids were 4, 1, and 6 months, my ex made a huge stink about their names.
I can understand your ex wanting the kids to keep his name but you could've changed yours at the time. Having a different last name than your kids really wasn't a big deal. For me, that was 40 years ago and no one blinked about it.
It was important to me. I didn't want to have a different last name than them. It mattered to me, I didn't care about any one else, or what they thought.

I can understand that. I was just trying to clarify a little.

Vette · Owl drink to that!

It's a pain in the ass! Good luck lol

I know what to do_sometimes · Frozen Sucks!

Lily, be careful about the bank account. You have to talk to your bank first about the order of things.

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

I thought about changing my name over the years. Now it just seems like too much trouble. If I remarried I'd change back to my maiden name or his. Maybe.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

I know what to do_sometimes wrote:
Lily, be careful about the bank account. You have to talk to your bank first about the order of things.

Thank you.

I'm more concerned with my disability.

I don't want to screw that up.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

This is not a difficult process. You need to file a name change petition in the court, and you need to run an advertisement. You will have to appear before the judge and testify that you are not doing so to defraud anyone.

This article sums it up -
info.legalzoom.com/legally-change-name-georgia-20538.html

This will cost you between $300 - $400 in filing and advertising fees if you do it yourself.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Oh geez. Everything I've read has said between $35 and $100.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

lilyofcourse wrote:
Oh geez. Everything I've read has said between $35 and $100.

The filing fee alone with the Clerk of Superior Court will be about $250. The advertisement will be about $80.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Ok. Thank you. I've got a lot to think about.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

Lily - you should go back and look at your divorce decree to make sure the judge didn't restore your name as part of that action. If he did - you might be able to use that to change it.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

I'll have to find it, but I'm pretty sure he didn't.

He asked if I wanted to go back to my maiden name, but I said no, and told him my reason.

NAOW · Vette's SS

My mom looked into doing it, but it was going to cost about $1000. She decided it wasn't worth it. She may change her mind in the future though.