Legal Name Change Law

Civil Rights Law on Name Changes.
 
Civil Rights Law of the State of New York

Change of Name

§ 60. Petition for change of name

A petition for leave to assume another name may be made by a resident of the state to the county court of the county or the supreme court in the county in which he resides, or, if he resides in the city of New York, either to the supreme court or to any branch of the civil court of the city of New York, in any county of the city of New York. The petition to change the name of an infant may be made by the infant through his next friend, or by either of his parents, or by his general guardian, or by the guardian of his person. 　

1. The petition shall be in writing, signed by the petitioner and verified in like manner as a pleading in a court of record, and shall specify the grounds of the application, the name, date of birth, place of birth, age and residence of the individual whose name is proposed to be changed and the name which he or she proposes to assume. The petition shall also specify (a) whether or not the petitioner has been convicted of a crime or adjudicated a bankrupt;  (b) whether or not there are any judgments or liens of  record  against the petitioner  or actions or proceedings pending to which the petitioner is  a party, and, if so, the petitioner shall give  descriptive  details in   connection  therewith sufficient to readily identify the matter referred
to; (c) whether or not the petitioner is responsible for  child  support  obligations;  (d) whether  or  not  the  petitioner's  child  support obligations have been satisfied and are up to date; (e) the amount of  a  child  support  arrearage  that  currently is outstanding along with the identity of the court which issued the  support  order  and  the  county  child  support  collections  unit;  (f) whether or not the petitioner is  responsible for spousal support obligations;  (g)  whether  or  not  the petitioner's  spousal support obligations have been satisfied and are up to date; and (h) the amount of spousal support arrearage that  currently is outstanding  along  with  the identity of the court which issued the support order.

 2. If the petitioner stands convicted of a violent felony offense
 as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a felony defined in 
article one 
 hundred  twenty-five of such law or any of the 
following provisions of such law sections 130.25, 130.30,  130.40,  130.45,  
255.25,  255.26,  255.27, article two hundred sixty-three, 135.10, 135.25, 
230.05, 230.06, subdivision  two  of section 
230.30 or 230.32, and is currently confined as an inmate  in  any  correctional  
facility  or  currently  under  the  supervision  of  the department of corrections 
and community supervision or a county probation department as a result  of  
such  conviction, the petition  shall for each such conviction specify
such felony conviction, the date of such conviction or 
convictions, and the court in which  such  conviction or convictions
 were entered.

3.  Upon  all  applications  for change of name by persons born in the state of 
New York, there shall be annexed to such  petition  either a birth  certificate or 
a certified transcript thereof or a certificate of  the commissioner or local board 
of health that none is available.

1. If the petition be to change the name of an infant, notice of the time and place when and where the petition will be presented must be served, in like manner as a notice of a motion upon an attorney in an action, upon (a) both parents of the infant, if they be living, unless the petition be made by one of the parents, in which case notice must be served upon the other, if he or she be living, and (b) the general guardian or guardian of the person, if there be one. But if any of the persons, required to be given notice by this section, reside without the state, then the notice required by this section must be sent by registered mail to the last known address of the person to be served. If it appears to the satisfaction of the court that a person required to be given notice by this section cannot be located with due diligence within the state, and that such person has no known address without the state, then the court may dispense with notice or require notice to be given to such persons and in such manner as the court thinks proper.

 2. If the petition be to change  the  name  of  a person  currently confined as 
 an  inmate in any correctional facility or currently under the  supervision  of  
the  department  of  corrections   and   community supervision or a county
 probation department as a result of a conviction for a violent  felony offense 
as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a felony defined in
article one hundred twenty-five of  such  law  or any of the following provisions
 of such law sections 130.25, 130.30,  130.40, 130.45,
 255.25, 255.26, 255.27, article two hundred sixty-three,	
135.10, 135.25, 230.05, 230.06, subdivision two  of  section  230.30  
or  230.32, notice of the time and place when and where the petition will be 
 presented  shall  be served, in like manner as a notice of a motion upon   
an attorney in an action, upon the district attorney of every county in  which 
 such  person has been convicted of such felony and upon the court  or courts
 in which the sentence for such felony was  entered.  Unless a  shorter  period 
 of  time  is ordered by the court, said notice shall be served upon each such
 district attorney and court  or  
courts  not  less
than  sixty  days prior to the date on which such petition is noticed to be heard.

If the court to which the petition is presented is satisfied thereby, or by the affidavit and ertificate presented therewith, that the petition is true, and that there is no reasonable objection to the change of name proposed, and if the petition be to change the name of an infant, that the interests of the infant will be substantially promoted by the change, the court shall make an order authorizing the petitioner to assume the name proposed. The order shall further recite the date and place of birth of the applicant and, if the applicant was born in the state of New York, such order shall set forth the number of his birth certificate or that no birth certificate is available. The order shall be directed to be entered and the papers on which it was granted to be filed prior to the publication hereinafter directed in the clerk's office of the county in which the petitioner resides if he be an individual, or in the office of the clerk of the civil court of the city of New York if the order be made by that court. Such order shall also direct the publication, at least once, within sixty days after the making of the order, in a designated newspaper in the county in which the order is directed to be entered and if the petition is made by a person subject to the provisions of subdivision two of section sixty-two of this article, in a designated newspaper in any county wherein such person was convicted if different from the county in which the order is otherwise directed to be entered, of a notice in substantially the following form: Notice is hereby given that an order entered by the ............ court,............ county, on the ...... day of......., bearing Index Number..........., a copy of which may be examined at the office of the clerk, located at ................., in room number......., grants me the right to assume the name of ................... My present address is.........................; the date of my birth is ...............; the place of my birth is ....................; my present name is .................................

If the order shall be fully complied with, and within ninety days after the making of the order, an affidavit of the publication thereof shall be filed in the office in which the order is entered, the petitioner shall be known by  the  name  which  is  thereby  authorized  to  be  assumed.  If  the  surname of a parent be changed as provided in this article, any minor child of such parent at the time of such change may thereafter assume such changed surname.  Upon  compliance with the order and the filing of the affidavit of the publication, as provided in this section, the  clerk  of  the  court in which  the  order has been entered shall certify that the order has been complied with; and, if the petition states that  the  petitioner  stands convicted of a violent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of such law  or  any  of  the  following provisions of such law sections 130.25,  130.30, 130.40, 130.45, 255.25,  255.26,  255.27,  article  two  hundred  sixty-three,  135.10, 135.25, 230.05, 230.06, subdivision two of section 230.30 or 230.32, such clerk (1) shall deliver, by first class  mail,  a copy  of  such  certified  order  to  the  division  of criminal justice
services at its office in the county of Albany and (2) upon the clerk of  the court reviewing the petitioner's application  for  name  change  and  subsequent in-court inquiry, may, in the clerk's discretion, deliver, by  first class mail, the petitioner's new name with such certified order to
the court of competent jurisdiction which imposed the orders of support.  Such  certification  shall  appear  on  the  original  order  and on any  certified copy thereof and shall be entered in the  clerk's  minutes  of  the proceeding.　

If the court shall find that the publication of an applicant's change of name would jeopardize such applicant's personal safety, the provisions of sections sixty-three and sixty-four of this article requiring publication shall be waived and shall be inapplicable. The court shall order the records of such change of name proceeding to be sealed, to be opened only by order of the court for good cause shown or at the request of the applicant.　

1. Any person may, upon marriage, elect to assume a new name according tothe provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section fifteen of the domestic relations law.
2.  Any person may, upon divorce or annulment, elect to resume the use of a former surname according to the provisions of section  two  hundred forty-a of the domestic relations law.
3.  The  effect  of  the  name  changes  accomplished  in  the  manner  prescribed in subdivisions one and two of this section shall be  as set forth in section sixty-four of this chapter.
4. Nothing in this article shall be construed to abrogate or alter the  common  law  right of every person, whether married or single, to retain  his or her name or to assume a new one so long as the new name  is  used  consistently and without intent to defraud.
5.  Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the state shall not impose any fee, charge, surcharge or assessment solely to change the surname  contained  on  a  license,  permit,   registration or other identifying  document  for  a person who, because of a change in marital
status, has assumed a new name or reassumes use of a former  surname  as  provided for in this section.

Christopher Tompkins -  Attorney At Law
225 Broadway, Suite 2020
New York, NY 10007
212 962-5363
Email: 
NameChangeLawyer@gmail.com