Adults and minor children may wish to change their names for many reasons: personal, cultural, or identity-driven. Whether you’re returning to your maiden name, choosing a name that aligns with your identity, seeking to update your legal name after years of informal use, or any other reason, Glass Law Office can assist you with the name change process.

A Name Change for adults and minors, governed by Section 68.07 of the Florida Statutes, requires fingerprinting and background checks. If you have prior issues such as bankruptcy, a criminal history, or a judgment against you, you will need to provide more information to the court so the judge understands you are not trying to avoid legal consequences.

If a name change is sought for a minor, the child’s parents or legal caregivers are the petitioners and the ones in charge of doing the fingerprints and background checks. The child’s parents or caregivers may petition jointly. Or, if both parents or caregivers are not in agreement, one parent or caregiver may petition on behalf of the minor; the other parent or caregiver will have to be served with the petition and will be given an opportunity to contest the name change.

If you are going through a divorce, you may return to your maiden name as part of the divorce decree without the need for a separate name change petition. However, if you do not change your name during your divorce proceedings, you may later file a separate petition for name change to either return to your maiden name or take on another name.

In adoption proceedings for both adults and children, the adoptee’s name may be changed as part of the final judgment of adoption without the need for a separate name change petition. However, if the adoptee’s name is not changed during the adoption proceedings, the adoptee (or, if a minor, the adoptee’s parents or legal caregivers) may later file a separate petition for name change.