Want to change your name? Michigan eyes updating ‘antiquated’ process

By Jordyn Hermani | jhermani@mlive.com
Updated: Aug. 23, 2023, 12:50 p.m.| Published: Aug. 23, 2023, 9:41 a.m.

When a person gets married and wants to change their last name, they can do so for typically under $50 and have their paperwork approved in a short period of time.

When a transgender Michigander wants to change their name, however, the process can take months, require the courts to get involved and cost up to $400 when all paperwork is filed – but only if everything runs smoothly.

“What we should have is gender affirming documentation so that we can have the same quality of life as everybody else. We’re not asking for special privileges,” said Julisa Abad, director of Transgender Outreach and Advocacy with the LGBTQ legal group Fair Michigan.

An estimated 476,000 transgender adults in the U.S. are without any form of identification baring their correct gender marker, according to a 2021 report from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. That same report names Michigan as having the highest percentage of trans adults without a gender-accurate identification at nearly 78% or roughly 15,000 individuals.

It’s part of the reason why lawmakers in Lansing are eyeing possible changes to the process — what one legislator referred to as a potentially huge step forward.

“The goal is to level the playing field in terms of people who are changing their names because they got married – which is very, very easy to do – and people who are changing their name because they are trying to bring their name in line with their gender presentation,” said Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia.

Pohutsky, who signed onto the package, said the four proposed bills would change the requirements a person publish notice of their name change in a newspaper, make physical mandated court hearings and be fingerprinted.

A judge could require these actions still take place, she added, “but for most people, it’s not necessary.” The bills are expected to be introduced this fall.

To get a name change in Michigan, a person must be a resident of the state for at least one year according to Michigan State University’s Gender and Sexuality Campus Center.

After that, depending on the county a person lives in, they could expect to pay an estimated:

$175 for an initial filing fee with the court system

$45 for a criminal background check and fingerprinting

$20-$50 for an individual county processing fee, though this is not always applicable depending on a person’s county of residence

$60 for a newspaper publishing fee, though this cost can vary depending on the paper a person selects to publish in

$30 fee for filing the order and two certified copies of the petition following the hearing

$10 for a new state identification card or driver’s license

As this is ongoing, a person can expect for it to take roughly one week to obtain and mail a petition for name change to a court within their county; three to five weeks to obtain a criminal background check, if 22 years-old or older, and; two to eight weeks to receive hearing information from a clerk and to have that name change hearing scheduled.

A person must also publish their notice of hearing in a newspaper no less than 15 days prior to their scheduled hearing date. Failure to do so could result in a person’s hearing being rescheduled and cost the that individual even more when it comes to seeking a name change.

This is the process regardless if a person is changing their name due to gender presentation, or if changing a name outside of marriage.

Original link to article: https://www.mlive.com/politics/2023/08/want-to-change-your-name-michigan-eyes-updating-antiquated-process.html