Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Hello,

I have a question about a name change. I filed a request to change my name, in California (I believe it was either the West LA or Santa Monica courthouse) over a decade ago. I was granted the request, and I sent out the required notice to the newspaper and/or public record at the time (I cannot remember exactly which one, but I followed the orders of the Court at the time).

However, after I was granted the name change, I never got around to changing my tax records, social security number records, DMV license, or any other legal records associated with my legal name. My job got incredibly busy right then, and I never took the time to make these changes anywhere, and so I continued on, receiving my paycheck with my previous name, and carrying on as if I had never received the name change at all. The only place where I used the new name was to copyright a video product that I created, and by searching the copyright records today, I see that the new name is still displayed with that copyright.

My questions are:

1. Since I have continued on using my old name for over a decade, is *that* actually my legal name still or is my new name what I should be using?

2. I have tried to Google for my old name + new name + name change to see if it is listed anywhere, and I cannot seem to find it. Should I instead go to lasuperiorcourt.org and pay for a 'Party Name Search'?

3. I now plan on starting a business with the product that I copyrighted with my new name, that I mentioned above (even though the business license in California that I obtained at the time to sell the product is using my old name). Will it be confusing for potential customers or anyone else if I continue to use my old name, as I have done for 10 years? Given that I cannot find my name change anywhere online, does that mean other people would not be able to? In other words, if anyone can find out that I have changed my name, by perhaps searching records somewhere I have not, is it a better idea, to eliminate confusion, for me to adopt my new name going forward, or is it less confusing if I carry on with my old name as I have done for the last decade?

Thanks for your help!


Asked on 12/06/13, 2:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

Your name change is with the court. It would not appear online unless the page online had a listing for you with the new name. If you want to use the new name legally, you should get certified copies of the decree changing your name from the courthouse and submit them to the proper agencies.

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Answered on 12/06/13, 7:12 am


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