Legal Question in Business Law in Florida

Use of legal name

When in high school I was told to select a legal name to use, and to stick with it for life.

I chose A.S. Conway (my name is Arnold Steven Conway) and I am called Steve, never Arnold.

All my bank accounts, credit cards etc. are under this name.

However when filling out any government related forms and certain others, I am asked to fill it out first name, middle initial, and last name.

This is causing me no end of problems. My name can appear as A.S.Conway. Arnold Conway, A. Steven Conway, Steve Conway, or whatever. I seem to have no legal name.

I get mail addressed to Arnold Conway. I have never been called Arnold, always Steve. I have had insurance denied because the have no A.S. Conway on file. Then I find it's listed as Arnold Conway etc.

So please tell me how I can use my preferred legal name in all cases of legal transactions.

I will be ever grateful for any and all suggestions.

Steve Conway


Asked on 1/26/07, 9:54 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Johm Smith tom's

Re: Use of legal name

Change your legal name in a court proceeding to fit what you now want it to be and then inform everyone by pointing them to the records or supplying them with it. You would also want to send the information to the major credit monitoring companies and all relevant government agencies.

Your problem is not that uncommon; many people go by a nick name or alias, but you should always use your legal name for serious purposes, such as credit applications, bank accounts, etc.

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Answered on 1/26/07, 10:22 am


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