Missouri name change for transgender people

Disclaimer: This is legal talk, not legal advice. Laws vary by state, and some of the information discussed on this page may not be applicable in your case. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information and provide it without warranty. Laws change and this information may contain errors and omissions. It is up to you to confirm any information herein by doing your own research.

A reader in St. Louis sent the following sample documents in January 2007:

Here are the documents I used to get my sex legally changed in St. Louis. Note that the attached forms require a person's name, date of birth, father's and mother's names, city of birth, and in the case of the petition, a notary public. I've made these into PDF forms, having taken out my personal information. Hope these prove helpful.

Sample sex change judgement (PDF)

Sample sex change petition (PDF)

A reader in St. Louis sent the following in October 2003

1. Submit Petition

The Saint Louis County Courthouse is in downtown Clayton, just outside of Saint Louis. On the fifth floor is the office for filing petitions, making copies, and paying for the whole kit'n'caboodle. The lady at the information desk was very helpful when I asked her what I needed to do to submit a petition. I believe I first had to get the petition notarized - possibly on the second floor - then I could go and submit the petition. After submitting the petition we scheduled my court date, which was for the following week. At the time I got instructions for finding the courtrooms - they may have been in a separate building, I don't remember now. The filing fee was about $130, but for some reason they sent me a check for $26 a month or two later, so it may be less.

2. Go to Court

Name changes are handled by the Family Court Division. I went to court en femme, as I was already full-time outside of work. Mine was the second case called, and I approached the bench. There were murmurs in the courtroom as my old name was used to call me to the stand. The judge reviewed my petition, and asked why I was changing my name. I said that the new name was the name I now used in my social and business relationships, and I carefully avoiding saying anything about changing gender, even though that must have seemed obvious. The judge signed and dated a court order, then directed me to the court clerk, who gave me instructions on completingthe process.

3. Publish Court Order

I took the petition and court order to the Saint Louis Countian, the local legal newspaper across the street, per the instructions of the court clerk. This cost $33. The Countian published the court order over the next three weeks. Shortly thereafter I received an affadavit to that effect in the mail.

4. Get Certified Copies

Affadavit in hand, I went back to the court house to get certified copies of the petition and court order, again on the fifth floor. They already had a copy of the affadavit, but I wanted to make sure. Certified copies were something like $2 a piece. I've gone through over a dozen now. I've had to use them for:

Birth Certificate
Driver's License
Vehicle Registration
Social Security
Passport
Bank Accounts
Credit Card Accounts
Credit Bureaus
Mortgage & Utilities
Current and Former Employer
Doctor's Office
Insurance
University records

Other comments and resources

Missouri state law

Legal precedent for transsexuals

[not known]