Name Changes
Petitions for formal changes of names are a bureaucratic and paper-intensive process. Getting legal help with the legal name change process can have several benefits:
- The legal name change process may proceed more quickly because your lawyer knows the procedures
- Your legal name change petition may have a greater chance of success because a seasoned family law attorney is less likely to forget a crucial step or piece of paperwork
- You may find that giving up the time and worry you would spend handling your own petition is worth the reasonable flat fee that we charge for the service
Helping You With The Paperwork
Among the many family law services we offer at the law offices of Wolfenson & Ashkenazi, P.C., we handle legal name change petitions on a flat-fee basis. Whether you want to change your name due to marriage, adoption, divorce or simple desire — or to change the name of your child — we can handle the paperwork with maximum efficiency and minimal bureaucratic red tape.
Attorney Andrew M. Wolfenson and his team have practiced law for a combined 50 years, serving residents in and around both their Union and Cedar Knolls offices. Each client works directly with one of the attorneys and gains the benefit of not only that attorney’s experience, but also the other attorneys’ legal work in the local family courts.
Basic Information About The Legal Name Change Process
The process of obtaining a legal name change has four primary steps:
- File a petition (called a Verified Complaint to change name) stating your current name, the desired change and the reasons for the change. In the legal name change petition, you must also swear under oath that you are not seeking to change your name for an improper purpose such as to avoid creditors or criminal prosecution.
- Notices of the name change must be provided to the State of New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to ensure that they do not oppose such a name change.
- A hearing in front of a judge, who will confirm your wishes for the legal name change and again make sure that you are not changing your name to escape criminal prosecution or debts.
- After the hearing, the name change order must be sent to the appropriate governmental authorities for filing before you can begin to use the new name.
At the offices of Wolfenson & Ashkenazi, P.C., we handle name change applications for both adults (which are brought in the Civil Division in the county where the applicant resides) and children (which are brought in the Family Division of the county where the child resides). We are well-versed in the similarities and differences of each process, which is critical to ensure success.
At each stage of the process, missteps are possible that can delay or even prevent your desired goal of changing your first or last name, or that of your child. Hiring a knowledgeable local lawyer to guide you through the process may save significant headaches.
Providing Free Initial Consultations
Contact the New Jersey law offices of Wolfenson & Ashkenazi, P.C., at 908-364-4054 to schedule a consultation at our Union or Cedar Knolls office. Learn about our flat-fee services for legal name change petitions. Your first consultation with a lawyer is free of charge.