The following guide is a joint collaboration between BreakOUT!, Capital City Alliance and Hite Law Group. The guide does not constitute legal advice and is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. Although a lawyer is not required to change your name successfully, you should seek advice from a licensed lawyer. Louisiana residents who are of legal age (eighteen (18) years of age or older) may change their name by appealing to their local district court. However, detained residents are not allowed to change their names until they have served their full sentence. Use a lawyer at ContractsCounsel to change your name! If the name change is part of an adoption law, the name change is included in that action. If the change of name is part of an acknowledgement of paternity, the forms for this procedure will be requested from the Civil Registry Department. In both cases, OPDA`s responsibilities with respect to checking the applicant`s criminal background are the same. A person can submit his application for a change of name to the parish where he was born, to the parish of his current residence or to the register of civil status of the parish of Orléans. A list of all Louisiana municipalities and their clerks can be found here.
Legal costs for a name change vary from municipality to municipality, ranging from $300 to over $500. It is therefore necessary to contact their parish to verify the necessary fees and be ready to pay them. If the person is unable to pay the fee, they can still process their application by filing an affidavit with the court and providing sufficient evidence, including a witness, to prove that they are unable to pay the required fee (CPP 5181). There is no requirement as to what the petition must say in cases where you are requesting a name change as part of a gender identity. In Louisiana, a minor is defined as any person under the age of eighteen (18). Both parents or guardians of the minor must be Louisiana residents to request a change of the minor`s name. A guardian is defined as a person who has been appointed deputy guardian of the minor. If one parent has sole custody of the minor or the other parent is in default of child support, the signatures and consent of both parents are not required. 6.
Now wait for your documents to be processed. After approval by the district attorney and a judge, the City Clerk will inform you that your certificate is ready to be withdrawn. The name change decree is the actual certificate that allows you to change your name with any private or public entity. The final verdict will be recorded in the parish records and your new name will be your real legitimate name. When the DA receives a copy of your name change request, they conduct a background check. The DA will also submit a response to your petition. It may take some time for the DA to receive your name change documents and for the AD file to submit a response. If the DA objects, consult a lawyer. If you are in prison, you must go to the district court of the municipality where you were sentenced. However, if you have been convicted of a crime, you cannot apply for a name change.
Only after you have served your sentence for your conviction for a felony, including imprisonment and/or probation or probation, can you apply to the district court for a name change. 3. Once in room 401 of the courthouse, a. You will show your current ID (one primary legal document or two secondary legal documents). Below is a list of what counts as primary and secondary documents. b. You will then pay a petition fee to process your request. As of February 2015, the petition fee is $503.50. They only accept cash or a money order issued at the court registry.
They do not accept personal cheques or credit cards. This is non-refundable. To check with the court for fee updates, call 504-407-0000. If the AD does not reject your name change application, you can return to the court to have your judgment signed. You request the minutes from the court registry and inform them that you are filing a judgment. You timestamp the verdict and will verify that your fees have been paid.