Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

Change of Person's Name

I'm not licensed in your state, but I have research the law on this in five different states now, and not only is it generally very easy to get a name change, many states do not require going to court to do it.BUT, even if your state allows informal name changes (just telling friends and neighbors and creditors what name you want to begin using), doing it informally means you will forever have to deal with petty bureaucrats who want to see a court Order and do not believe you can change your name without one.I was given the name of Jesse Lee Beard at birth, but legally changed it years ago to Jes Beard... and did it without going to court. Everything now is in the new name... but it did not bother me to go into the license bureau and similar agencies and argue my way through getting them to change their records.For most folks the relatively low court costs and legal fees for something like this are well worth not dealing with little Nazis in training.

Reply to request for change of name information

In California, you do not need to do anything special to change your name. You can basically call yourself whatever you want, subject to certain restrictions, such as not using the name for fraudulent purposes. The real problem, however, may be the acceptance of the use of a different name by others, particularly governmental agencies, such as the DMV. This message, however should not be taken out of context. Your state may have different requirements. Additionally, even someone from California reading this should seek legal advice pertaining to their particular situation. The proceedure, should you choose to judicially change you name (and thus obtaining a judgement (a court document) recognizing the use of the different name may be relatively inexpensive and avoid a lot of conflicts and hassles that otherwise may occur.