How do I go about changing my last name and is costly?

I am a 21 year old male who lives in Texas and I would like to change my last name to my biological father'e last name.

How do I go about changing my last name and is costly?
In January 2007, Consumer Reports provided a very comprehensive guide to name change information that I have summarized:





1) Pay a filling fee ranging anywhere from $13 to $230 and obtain a court order. Usually you will need to publish a public notice of your name change (more on that later).





2) Go to the Internet and search for your state and "courts" (for example, South Carolina + courts):





Note, I've already done this and found the name-change form for South Carolina, which appears along with the name-change forms from some other states:





http://www.uspegalforms.com/changeofname...





Of course, you can also stop by your county court house for the paper work. You will also need to make sure that you meet the residency requirements for your state.





3) Hiring an attorney will probably expediate matters; however, fees start at about $200.





4) Some states require finger printing and background checks.





5) You will need to publish your name change petition in a "newspaper of general circulation".





6) File with the court, pay any court fees, and schedule a hearing. If the judge agrees that your name change isn't detrimental to anyone else, you have successfully changed your name. But your work has just begun.





7) Ask your county clerk for at least one-half dozen copies of your name-change decree (at $10 per copy). Visit the Department of Motor Vehicles for a new driver's license; ask Social Security for a new card (Form SS-5), or else download it at http://www.ssa.gov ; change your passport, sending to the the US Department of State your old passport along with a certified copy of your name-change order/or marriage license*. See http://www.travel.state.gov to downloard form DS-5504 or DS-82.





8) Notify every entity with whom you do business:





------Your employer to change paychecks, withholding, and W-2 forms





------credit card companies





------insurance carriers for home, life, auto, health





------attorneys for parents if you expect to inherit anything, so they can change their wills





------brokerage, stock, bonds, mutual funds, and any other possible financial accounts





------mortgage companies





------medical providers, for example, Blue Cross/Blue Shield





------College alumni associations





------County tax assessors





------State licensing boards





------Your children's schools





------Utilities (telephone, cell phone, electricity, gas, water, cable TV, Internet provider)





How about just using a nickname?


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*Of course, if you are an unmarried woman, you can pick a willing groom and get married, but you will still have to go through steps 7 and 8--not to mention picking out a china pattern.





Source(s):


http://www.consumerreports.org/crolperso...
Reply:It is not particularly costly for a legal proceeding and most attorneys will not charge that much.





Aside from the cost of the attorney to properly draft the pleadings, the other two major costs will be the filing fees and the cost of putting a legal notice in an appropriate publication. The legal notice is designed to give notice to potential creditors about the name change so that it is not used to avoid legitimate claims.





Basically, what is involved is filing the pleading, putting the notice in the paper, explaining to the judge the reason for the change, and having a judgment entered approving of the name change.





You will need to keep a certified copy of the judgment along with the birth certificate for getting a new driver's license with your new name and for renewing the license or getting a passport in the future.
Reply:I'm not positively sure how you would go about it. Maybe contact the Social Security Administration since you'll have to have it changed on your SS card as well. It shouldn't be very costly, if anything at all since it costs little or nothing for a woman to change her last name after marriage. It may be as simple as going to the court house or to the Vital Statistics office in your state/county to have it done. Check with some attorneys in your area that deal with family law, they may be of more help.

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