How I changed my name

Today is the day I am going to change my name legally! I drove to downtown Tampa to the 13^th Judicial Circuit Court building. The line wasn’t too long for Family Court filings but I still stood there for a good bit. I got to the teller window and I turned my paper work in and was informed that I needed finger prints as well. I was like huh? I was never told this on the phone when I called, go figure. The teller said I could still file the application but I would need to bring a set of my finger prints back to the court house. I paid the cashier and was on my way. I had to provide a copy of my birth certificate, driver’s license and the application.

I figured that the beginning of next week, I would drive downtown to the Police department, get finger printed and run them over to the courthouse. It cost me $267.00 to file the change of name in Hillsborough County. $255.00 for the name change fee and $12.00 for sealing the change of name to the Office of Vital Statistics and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. I’ll be contacted by mail of a court date after the “Case Management Unit” reviews my file. So far, step 1 complete… Yay!

30 Days Pass…

I woke up at 7:00 AM. I took the day off from work so I could make it down to the court house at 9:00 AM for my hearing. I showered, made myself up all pretty and put on the outfit I bought last night just for this occasion.

Tori came with me for some friendly support. We found a parking spot in the closest parking deck and walked over to the 13th Judicial Circuit Courthouse. We arrived a few minutes late but that’s OK. The judge didn’t make an appearance till a half hour later, at 9:30 AM. It was a small court room but was full by the time we got there. Tori and I sat apart for awhile because of the limited seating but later sat together when some cases were cleared.

Judge Kevin Carey was to hear my petition for name change. I was the second to last case to be heard. Since I was in Family Court, it was mainly marriage divorces. I might of been the only name change but there was one woman after me which I did not hear what her case was about. He went through each case in about 4 minutes time. I was finally called upon after like 15-20 minutes.

He called my case by my last name, as he did each of the others. He asked me if I resided in Hillsborough County, I said yes; He asked me if my petition was for any illegal purposes, I said no; He asked me if I was changeing my name to Erin … and spelled out my new full name and asked if that was correct, I said yes. He then wished me good luck and I said thank you and I stepped down to sign the final judgement with his assistant or clerk.

He was so nice. He never used my previous boy name, he never called me Mr. or Sir. The only name he used was my last name in calling me and my new full name for verification. There wouldn’t of been a single person that would of known I was trans if I had been called early and had a full court room. I was all nervous for nothing. I had thought about what I’d say if he asked me why I wanted to change my name. He asked all the others why they wanted a divorce. I thought, I’d say: “I am a transgendered female and would like a name that is appropriate for my gender.” I never had to say that.

I then followed the Court Clerk downstairs with everyone else to get certified copies of the final judgment. It was one of the most painless experiences I have experienced. I am so happy and so excited. I consider this my second milestone in transition, with starting HRT being the first.

Next on my agenda was to change my name with the U.S. government since I was a resident alien and not a citizen. It wasn’t really difficult. It just cost another $250.00 and 6 months of waiting for an interview with the INS. It wasn’t until several years later that I would get my name changed on my Canadian birth certificate . It too was a rather painless, time consuming process; it consisted of another application, name change documents and supporting identity documents. I applied for a new Canadian passport shortly after I received my new birth certificate.