Family Law Attorneys Tampa are often asked about how one can legally change their name in the state of Florida. Obviously, folks change their name for a variety of reasons, which we’ll discuss elsewhere on our Tampa family law attorney blog, but for purposes of this blog article, we provide general overview of the process. It is frankly a very detail oriented and procedurally heavy process. A minor procedural issue can stop the entire process.
First, this requires the filing of a petition with the circuit court in your respective circuit. Our attorneys have filed these petitions in the past, have experience insuring the petitions comply with Florida law and rules of procedure and getting them quickly completed. The filing of a petition for a name change involves strict legal requirements, which require experience and knowledge with a Florida law to insure they’re properly filed.
During the period between the filing of the petition and the hearing before a circuit court judge, fingerprints must be taken and submitted to the FBI for a background search. Also, a background search for your criminal history will be conducted internally by the clerk of the circuit court and provided the presiding judge prior to your hearing. Lastly and most importantly, it is necessary to have a hearing before a circuit court judge before your name change petition can be granted. These requirements are laid out in Florida Statute Section 68.07. In our experience these requirements are so strict because of fears that individuals with warrants or other outstanding civil obligations could simply change their name to avoid those issues. Obviously, Florida law and courts are attempting to prevent these sorts of actions.
If you have questions concerning changing your name in the state of Florida, contact the Family Law Attorneys Tampa of Hackworth Law for a free case consultation. We’ll sit down with you and insure this process is done in the most efficient and effective way possible to get your name changed and get you moving on with your life. If you’d like to contact one of our Tampa family law attorneys immediately, please use the “Contact Us Now” tab in the upper right hand corner of our website. We appreciate your time and attention and look forward to working with you in the future.