New York Law
Civil Rights Law
Consolidated Laws of New York
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Article 6 - NY Civil Rights Law
CHANGE OF NAME
Section |
Description |
60 | Petition for change of name. |
61 | Contents. |
62 | Notice. |
63 | Order. |
64 | Effect. |
64-A | Exemption from publication requirements. |
65 | Optional change of name upon marriage, divorce or annulment. |
S 60. Petition for change of name. A petition for leave to assume
another name may be made by a resident of the state to the county court
of the county or the supreme court in the county in which he resides,
or, if he resides in the city of New York, either to the supreme court
or to any branch of the civil court of the city of New York, in any
county of the city of New York. The petition to change the name of an
infant may be made by the infant through his next friend, or by either
of his parents, or by his general guardian, or by the guardian of his
person.
S 61. Contents. 1. The petition shall be in writing, signed by the
petitioner and verified in like manner as a pleading in a court of
record, and shall specify the grounds of the application, the name, date
of birth, place of birth, age and residence of the individual whose name
is proposed to be changed and the name which he or she proposes to
assume. The petition shall also specify (a) whether or not the
petitioner has been convicted of a crime or adjudicated a bankrupt; (b)
whether or not there are any judgments or liens of record against the
petitioner or actions or proceedings pending to which the petitioner is
a party, and, if so, the petitioner shall give descriptive details in
connection therewith sufficient to readily identify the matter referred
to; (c) whether or not the petitioner is responsible for child support
obligations; (d) whether or not the petitioner's child support
obligations have been satisfied and are up to date; (e) the amount of a
child support arrearage that currently is outstanding along with the
identity of the court which issued the support order and the county
child support collections unit; (f) whether or not the petitioner is
responsible for spousal support obligations; (g) whether or not the
petitioner's spousal support obligations have been satisfied and are up
to date; and (h) the amount of spousal support arrearage that currently
is outstanding along with the identity of the court which issued the
support order.
2. If the petitioner stands convicted of a violent felony offense as
defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a felony defined in article
one hundred twenty-five of such law or any of the following provisions
of such law sections 130.25, 130.30, 130.40, 130.45, 255.25, 255.26,
255.27, article two hundred sixty-three, 135.10, 135.25, 230.05, 230.06,
subdivision two of section 230.30 or 230.32, and is currently confined
as an inmate in any correctional facility or currently under the
supervision of the department of corrections and community supervision
or a county probation department as a result of such conviction, the
petition shall for each such conviction specify such felony conviction,
the date of such conviction or convictions, and the court in which such
conviction or convictions were entered.
3. Upon all applications for change of name by persons born in the
state of New York, there shall be annexed to such petition either a
birth certificate or a certified transcript thereof or a certificate of
the commissioner or local board of health that none is available.
S 62. Notice. 1. If the petition be to change the name of an infant,
notice of the time and place when and where the petition will be
presented must be served, in like manner as a notice of a motion upon an
attorney in an action, upon (a) both parents of the infant, if they be
living, unless the petition be made by one of the parents, in which case
notice must be served upon the other, if he or she be living, and (b)
the general guardian or guardian of the person, if there be one. But if
any of the persons, required to be given notice by this section, reside
without the state, then the notice required by this section must be sent
by registered mail to the last known address of the person to be served.
If it appears to the satisfaction of the court that a person required to
be given notice by this section cannot be located with due diligence
within the state, and that such person has no known address without the
state, then the court may dispense with notice or require notice to be
given to such persons and in such manner as the court thinks proper.
2. If the petition be to change the name of a person currently
confined as an inmate in any correctional facility or currently under
the supervision of the department of corrections and community
supervision or a county probation department as a result of a conviction
for a violent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the penal
law or a felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of such law
or any of the following provisions of such law sections 130.25, 130.30,
130.40, 130.45, 255.25, 255.26, 255.27, article two hundred sixty-three,
135.10, 135.25, 230.05, 230.06, subdivision two of section 230.30 or
230.32, notice of the time and place when and where the petition will be
presented shall be served, in like manner as a notice of a motion upon
an attorney in an action, upon the district attorney of every county in
which such person has been convicted of such felony and upon the court
or courts in which the sentence for such felony was entered. Unless a
shorter period of time is ordered by the court, said notice shall be
served upon each such district attorney and court or courts not less
than sixty days prior to the date on which such petition is noticed to
be heard.
S 63. Order. If the court to which the petition is presented is
satisfied thereby, or by the affidavit and certificate presented
therewith, that the petition is true, and that there is no reasonable
objection to the change of name proposed, and if the petition be to
change the name of an infant, that the interests of the infant will be
substantially promoted by the change, the court shall make an order
authorizing the petitioner to assume the name proposed. The order shall
further recite the date and place of birth of the applicant and, if the
applicant was born in the state of New York, such order shall set forth
the number of his birth certificate or that no birth certificate is
available. The order shall be directed to be entered and the papers on
which it was granted to be filed prior to the publication hereinafter
directed in the clerk's office of the county in which the petitioner
resides if he be an individual, or in the office of the clerk of the
civil court of the city of New York if the order be made by that court.
Such order shall also direct the publication, at least once, within
sixty days after the making of the order, in a designated newspaper in
the county in which the order is directed to be entered and if the
petition is made by a person subject to the provisions of subdivision
two of section sixty-two of this article, in a designated newspaper in
any county wherein such person was convicted if different from the
county in which the order is otherwise directed to be entered, of a
notice in substantially the following form: Notice is hereby given that
an order entered by the ............ court,............ county, on the
...... day of......., bearing Index Number..........., a copy of which
may be examined at the office of the clerk, located at
................., in room number......., grants me the right to assume
the name of ................... The city and state of my present
address are .........................; the month and year of my birth
are ................; the place of my birth is ....................; my
present name is .................................
S 64. Effect. If the order shall be fully complied with, and within
ninety days after the making of the order, an affidavit of the
publication thereof shall be filed in the office in which the order is
entered, the petitioner shall be known by the name which is thereby
authorized to be assumed. If the surname of a parent be changed as
provided in this article, any minor child of such parent at the time of
such change may thereafter assume such changed surname.
Upon compliance with the order and the filing of the affidavit of the
publication, as provided in this section, the clerk of the court in
which the order has been entered shall certify that the order has been
complied with; and, if the petition states that the petitioner stands
convicted of a violent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the
penal law or a felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of such
law or any of the following provisions of such law sections 130.25,
130.30, 130.40, 130.45, 255.25, 255.26, 255.27, article two hundred
sixty-three, 135.10, 135.25, 230.05, 230.06, subdivision two of section
230.30 or 230.32, such clerk (1) shall deliver, by first class mail, a
copy of such certified order to the division of criminal justice
services at its office in the county of Albany and (2) upon the clerk of
the court reviewing the petitioner's application for name change and
subsequent in-court inquiry, may, in the clerk's discretion, deliver, by
first class mail, the petitioner's new name with such certified order to
the court of competent jurisdiction which imposed the orders of support.
Such certification shall appear on the original order and on any
certified copy thereof and shall be entered in the clerk's minutes of
the proceeding.
S 64-a. Exemption from publication requirements. 1. If the court shall
find that the publication of an applicant's change of name would
jeopardize such applicant's personal safety, the provisions of sections
sixty-three and sixty-four of this article requiring publication shall
be waived and shall be inapplicable. The court shall order the records
of such change of name proceeding to be sealed, to be opened only by
order of the court for good cause shown or at the request of the
applicant.
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, pending such a finding
in subdivision one where an applicant seeks relief under this section,
the court shall immediately order the applicant's current name, proposed
new name, residential and business addresses, telephone numbers, and any
other information contained in any pleadings or papers submitted to the
court to be safeguarded and sealed in order to prevent their inadvertent
or unauthorized use or disclosure while the matter is pending.
S 65. Optional change of name upon marriage, divorce or annulment. 1.
Any person may, upon marriage, elect to assume a new name according to
the provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section fifteen of
the domestic relations law.
2. Any person may, upon divorce or annulment, elect to resume the use
of a former surname according to the provisions of section two hundred
forty-a of the domestic relations law.
3. The effect of the name changes accomplished in the manner
prescribed in subdivisions one and two of this section shall be as set
forth in section sixty-four of this chapter.
4. Nothing in this article shall be construed to abrogate or alter the
common law right of every person, whether married or single, to retain
his or her name or to assume a new one so long as the new name is used
consistently and without intent to defraud.
5. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the state shall
not impose any fee, charge, surcharge or assessment solely to change the
surname contained on a license, permit, registration or other
identifying document for a person who, because of a change in marital
status, has assumed a new name or reassumes use of a former surname as
provided for in this section.
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