Artists, Athletes, Actors, Performers, Salespeople, Business people, People in certain professions, People seeking advancement or employment, and others of all types may pursue a Legal Name Change for Professional Reasons. Because Changing Your Name can mean a more marketable you. 

Legal Name Change For Professional Reasons

When You Want to Make it Legal

If you’ve taken a name for your career, or want to, sooner or later you’re going to have complications between your career name and your real name. That’s because of identification, finances, branding or identity confusion. Lots of professionals facing that problem want to fix it by committing to their career name and wanting their other name(s) to stop causing trouble. A Decree Changing Name is the solution. A Decree Changing Name is also commonly called a Name Change Court Order or a Legal Name Change. You get it upon approval by a Superior Court judge in the county where you live now. This process of Legal Name Change for Professional Reasons is fully defined in California Laws (California CCP, sections 1275-1279.5).

What You Have To Do Getting your legal name change for professional reasons involves going through a 4-step process. It’s not simple or free. But a whole lot of professionals say it’s worth the investment. Here’s the steps:

1. Prepare a Petition for Change of Name
2. File in Court and Give Public Notice
3. Get Your Decree and Certified Copy of it
4. Change Your Records, Establish Your Name Universally

Legal Name Change For Professional Reasons

How To Get All This Done

EZ Name Change can do your Petition and take you through the process. You can give us the information the court needs, online (Start My Name Change Now), in about 10 minutes or less.  Then we make everything happen for you. With Full Service, just sign the documents, pay the fees, and pick up your Decree by appointment, upon approval. With your Certified Decree Changing Name, start changing All your important records the minute you’re ready.

Legal Name change for professional reasons, like other name changes, is done through a Petition court process.  A Petition is actually a collection of court forms (between 5 and 10 different ones, depending on your county). The information on the forms is, generally, about the kind of case you’re filing, your personal information, the circumstances of your name change including your reasons, and other information the judge needs to approve your Petition. Once  the Petition is Filed in the right court, you get a hearing date and give public notice (run a little legal ad).

Legal Name Change For Professional Reasons

What help can you get to make this happen?

With Ready-To-File Service, we do all the documents and then you’ll do the Filing and Advertising with our help. If you want FULL SERVICE ($75 extra), we take care of the Documents and all the Filing and Advertising for you too. The court usually sets a Hearing 6-12 weeks after the Filing. The Public Notice advertising runs in one of the qualified legal newspapers once a week for 4 consecutive weeks (required).  After that, you wait. The court conducts a confidential criminal history assessment before the hearing. Usually, there are no objections or other problems. If everything’s okay, on the date of your hearing, the judge can sign your Decree.

The Court Order you get says Decree Changing Name.  You can get a Certified Copy of that Decree from that same court, which is what you use to change your records. Your Certified Copy is what you show all the various official keepers of your Legal Name documentation (Social Security, Passport, DMV, Banks, Professional Licensing, etc.) Change your records over to your Professional (now your Legal) Name right away if you want.

Legal Name Change For Professional Reasons

What’s It All Cost?

Use these prices for budgeting purposes, but your actual prices may vary. Our charge for preparing your Petition is included in these costs:

$115.00 — Prepare a Petition

$435.00 — File the Petition in Court

$ 80.00 —  Required Advertising

$630.00 — TOTAL for Ready-To File  $705 — TOTAL for Full Service (average pricing models)

Court Costs in some Counties can be a little more. Newspaper charges can be a little more or a little less. Read more about related topics at these places: Name Change Costs in California?,  How to Get a Legal Name Change in California?,  Who can Legally Change Names?, Can My Name Change be Denied.   Legal Name Change for Professional Reasons isn’t free or simple. But, it’s worth it. It’s a big deal to get a Legal Name Change, and it can be a very powerful part of your working future.  It’s an investment you can make in you.  When you’re ready…