CLIPBOARD : HOW TO CHANGE YOUR NAME LEGALLY

So what happens if Esther feels in her heart of hearts that she is actually a Tiffany? If Billy Ray Jim Bob knows his life would be different if he became Thaddeus? If the appellation doesn’t fit, change it.

You can adopt a name at any time and change it on credit cards and some other official records using an “also known as.” But “a.k.a.’s get messy with tax records,” said Charlotte Hooker, probate division supervisor in the county clerk’s office. “The only way to get your birth records changed is to go through the legal name-change process.”

Name changes are handled locally by the probate division of the Orange County clerk’s office, located in the Orange County Courthouse, 700 Civic Center Drive West in Santa Ana.

The filing fee is $123. Forms for the Petition for Change of Name, Order to Show Cause for Change of Name and Decree Changing Name are available on the first floor of the courthouse in the county clerk’s office. When completed (they must be typewritten), they can be returned to the probate division on the second floor, Department 3. Families--such as husband and wife, parent and minor child, and brother and sister under the age of 18--can petition together. A hearing date will be assigned when the paperwork is filed.

A copy of the filed Order to Show Cause for Change of Name must be published in an adjudicated Orange County newspaper at least once a week for four consecutive weeks. A list of the 30 such newspapers is available in the county clerk’s office. The newspaper’s Proof of Publication should be submitted no later than two days before the hearing date.

In California, a request for a name change can be denied only if a person with a legitimate reason for rejecting the change files an objection with the court. If this is not the case, the Decree Changing Name is granted.

If you are recently married

You do not have to go through the court process to change your name. You do, however, have to contact the agencies listed below to alert them to the change.

Agencies to contact

The first agency to alert is the Social Security Administration. You can request the necessary forms by telephone by calling (800) 234-5772. Once the forms are filled out, you can mail them to any of the seven local Social Security offices with the original or certified copies of the court order that changes your name, your marriage certificate or divorce decree. The documents will be returned to you after processing. If you do not want to send original copies through the mail, you can take the forms and documents into any Social Security office and they will process the name change.

Social Security Administration records and tax records are linked by computer, so there is no reason to contact the Internal Revenue Service as well. Social Security will alert the IRS.

The next step is to change the name on your driver’s license. The Department of Motor Vehicles will issue you a new license (with a new picture) for a $10 fee.

Others to contact about your name change include: your bank; your employer; credit card, utility and insurance companies; voter registration, passport and post offices; magazines and newspapers you subscribe to, and your school alumni association.

NAME CHANGES FILED IN ORANGE COUNTY Dec. 1989: 35 July 1990: 73

Source: Orange County clerk’s office, probate division; Social Security Administration; Department of Motor Vehicles