Name Change in Pennsylvania

Name Change is commonly part of divorce, but that is not the only reason people want to change their name. Very common reasons are:

• The desire to retake a maiden name or previous name after or during a divorce.
• Changing a legal name to a name that one has already used for a significant length of time. For instance, changing a legal name from Margaret to Molly, or, perhaps, to anglicize a name from JaeSookShun to Jamie or Juan to John.
• Correcting errors and misspellings on birth certificates. Perhaps officials misinterpreted Carolyn as Carol Ann at birth, or spelled Jonathan as Jonathon. It still takes a Judge’s Order to correct these defects in birth certificates.
• In these post 9/11 times, government agencies are far more particular that all identification sources are identical. For instance, if you want a passport, your birth certificate must exactly match the name on your driver’s license and social security card, and so on. All of these federal agencies only accept a judge’s order to fix any variances into one, consistently cited legal name.
• Changing the name of the child or adult being adopted (yes there is adult adoption in Pennsylvania) is part of the adoption process and handled with the Adoption Decree.
• LGBTQ or transgender identity. Persons wishing to change their legal name to one that more closely reflects their gender identity can ask for a legal name change.
• Minors or adults who are estranged from one parent or raised by someone other than parents may wish to change their name to reflect those who truly raised them.

THE PROCESS. Of the reasons for name change listed above, only two do not require a hearing before a judge: divorce and adoption. During or after divorce, a party may retake their maiden or previous name with a very simple process that does not require a hearing or publications. Neither does adoption – Pennsylvania’s adoption process incorporates the change of name into the Adoption Decree, requiring no further name change process.

For everyone else – even if you are only correcting a birth certificate from decades ago or changing the spelling of your name – the process is more involved. Generally, a name change petition must be filed, the court assigns a hearing date, and notice of the hearing must be published in two publications specific to the geographic location of the petitioner. If the petitioner is a minor, his or her parent(s) must also be served with notice of the hearing date.

State law is written to prevent abuse of name change for debtors or criminals seeking to avoid justice. A series of clearances are required on the date of the name change hearing, along with proof of publication. These include:  state police fingerprint check, criminal history clearance, lien and judgment clearance and a general, countywide clearance. If an individual has lived in a different county or state during the previous five years, they must also provide the lien/judgment clearances for each previous county of residence.

Each county processes name change petitions a bit differently, but the ultimate result is always a hearing in front of a judge who, if satisfied with what they see and hear, will sign the Name Change Decree. If the name change is opposed, most typically by a parent or creditor, the judge will listen to arguments from both sides, determining whether the name change can go through or if another hearing is required.

The certified Name Change Decree is then the beginning of the long journey of changing one’s historical and current identification records.

If you’d like to discuss your name change, I offer a free first consult. Call my office at 215-345-5259.

-Elissa C. Goldberg, Esquire

Law Office of Elissa C. Goldberg
107 North Broad Street, Suite 211
Doylestown, PA 18901