Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Name changes for minor children

If you want to change your child's name, both parents must agree to changing the child's name.

A legal document called a Petition must be filed at the courthouse requesting that a judge change the child's name.

The judge will sign a document called an Order that officially changes the child's name permanently.
After the judge signs this document, there is more that you need to do to get a new birth certificate. You then contact the Bureau of Vital Statistics for a new birth certificate.

The cost to do this varies.  The filing with with the county is approximately $300.  If both parents are willing to sign all the papers then that will save you money.  If the other parent will not sign the paperwork to approve the child's name change then the parent needs to be served with the Petition that was filed at the courthouse opening the file.  This can cost approximately $100.

Once the other parent is served with the legal papers by a process server then they have a certain amount of time to file a legal document at the courthouse called an Answer.  A parent would normally object to the name change in the Answer.  You now have a contested case.

It is up to the judge whether or not the judge will grant a child's name change.

If there has been a case involving this child before, you will be assigned to the same judge again.

If the father objects and is active in the child's life then many judges will not do a name change.

So I highly recommend that you talk to the other parent before beginning this process.

You must have very good reasons to change a child's name.  Generally in Harris County most family court judges do not like to grant these name changes unless there is a very compelling reason.  But if both parents approve of the name change then the judge will sign the paperwork.

You then take the Order signed by the Judge and ask the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Austin to issue a new birth certificate with the new name.  To get a new birth certificate can take up to 6 months and costs approximately $65.  You must fill out all of the required paperwork from the BVS Office in order for them to issue a new birth certificate.

You can attempt to do this yourself.  It is not easy.  You might be able to find the forms at the Harris County Law Library.  You would take the master form and fill it out.  You would need to re-type the master form that you find so that it applies to your case.  You will need a Petition and an Order at the minimum.  Both parents need to sign at the bottom of the Order acknowledging that they want the name change.

If the parents don't agree then it is a contested case and there will be a trial in front of the judge.  Both of you will have to put on evidence.  If it is contested I strongly encourage you to hire an attorney.

You do not automatically get a hearing in front of the judge.  Normally you have to ask for one.  You will need to talk to the judge's head clerk to get a date for a hearing to see the judge.  Judges calendars are very busy and you might have to wait several weeks to get a court date.

I encourage people to hire a family law attorney to assist them with name changes.  They can be tricky.
Most attorneys charge at least $1,000 - $1,500 for these type of cases if uncontested.  They can take a time of attorney time.  If contested and there is going to be a hearing, then you need to anticipate spending a lot more than $1,500 - attorneys charge a lot for trials.

I hope this blog post has been helpful.

Good luck!

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for providing the information. I was searching this type of information only and I would also like to see some other information regarding law.
    Legal Service in Family Law, West Palm Beach

    ReplyDelete