Here's the details for name changes in Kentucky.
Go to the probate court clerk's office in your home county.
Bring along your current drivers' license/state picture ID and 1 other ID
(may be in old name) - their main concern is verifying your current residency,
and $28
They will give you a form to complete, asking your original name, name desired,
address, CSZ, and signature. It will also ask if you are obtaining the name
change for fraudulent reasons. It does not ask any other reason. Once you
complete this, and pay your $28, the name change will be added to the docket.
If you want extra certified copies of your name change, those are $3 extra
apiece.
In Louisville/Jefferson County, and Lexington/Fayette County, no court appearance
is needed. Your name change will be submitted to a judge for signature, and
it is routinely granted - your completed name change is mailed to you. In
other counties, you may need to appear - a date will be set at the time you
file the paperwork. While a judge has the right to say NO, it hasn't happened
in the recent past anywhere in the state. Legal counsel is unnecessary.
Once the name change is obtained, one may go to the county clerk's office,and
the personal ID/drivers' license/CDL may be changed to the new name, with
a certified copy of the name change. They will not change the gender marker
without proof of SRS - the receipt from payment of the surgeon is what they
want to see, and it must have the magic words "sexual reassignment surgery"
on it.
The Kentucky State Bureau of Vital Statistics will change a Kentucky birth
certificate, with the same proof of SRS required for the change of marker
on the license/ID. It may be done by mail, is routinely granted, and requires
neither a judge, nor legal counsel.
All in all, Kentucky is a pretty easy place to change your name. At no point
in the process is legal counsel needed, as of now. However, we are concerned
this may change, because we now have elected our first GOP governor in 35
years, a doctor who knows about and doesn't approve of TSs. .
