First-hand report: Washington State transgender name change |
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In the past I have reported on the option of getting a court order for name change in Washington State if attempts in your local jurisdiction have met with resistance from a judge with an attitude. Several readers have done this, though you will need to establish residency in Washington State by receiving mail there and travel to the courthouse where you established residency in order to complete the process. You will probably have to appear before a judge and may have to swear that you are a resident. If you have properly established residency, these questions can be answered honestly.
A reader who just did this notes:
I had some trouble with a Judge in my local court. It seems that he did not think that transition was a valid reason to change my name and had refused my request on two attempts. I had the option to appeal but after searching your site came on a better solution.
I have relatives living in Washington state, a place where name changes are quite easy.
The first thing I did was to contact the court in the county where my relatives reside and get the requirements. They live in Tacoma/Pierce county. I was informed that all I needed to get a name change was a picture ID and a birth certificate. Out of state ID was OK. There is a residency requirement but the term or permanence of the residency was not an issue.
This is when I remembered the the debate of George Bush Sr. and the question of where he should vote. It seems that although he lived in Kennebunkport, he owned property in Texas and could therefore call it his residence. This was justified by him receiving mail at the Texas address. I simply established my residency by sending myself mail at my relative’s address, with their permission of course.
I flew to Seattle/Tacoma, had a nice visit with my relatives and went to the courthouse the next day. The courthouse is quite small and it took less than five minutes to fill out the two page name change request. I walked from the clerk’s office to the courtroom and was called for my hearing in less than a half hour.
The Judge was great, she called me by my female name and never once mentioned the former. She was very complementary on my reasons for the name change referring to them as “Definitely Necessary.” She congratulated me on my new name, admonished me to followup with my State ID and Social Security, and we were done. She never asked me about residency or had me swear that I lived there. I had two certified copies in my hand no more than ten minutes later and additional copies to be mailed to my Tacoma address in about a week.
The court costs were $117.00. I had travel and lodging expenses but all together it was less than what it had cost me for another attempt in California, and far less then the attorney fees for an appeal.
I got my name change and had a nice few days in Tacoma.
Just thought that this might be helpful to others.
More information:
Name change for transgender people:
http://www.tsroadmap.com/reality/name-change.html
Washington State name change information:
http://www.tsroadmap.com/reality/name/washington.html
Washington State residency information for out-of-state readers:
http://www.tsroadmap.com/reality/name/washington.html#residency
