Last year I had my name changed back to my maiden name. This was not the simple get divorced and assume your maiden name. I would think a family change is about the same. You need a lawyer who will ask you some questions, run an ad in the local newspaper before and after. Then a court date is arranged and the judge will ask you why the change, are you trying to escape creditors etc.. Time in court was about 10 minutes, but after she granted the name change I still had to wait a month before I could use it. It was Superior Court in my county. I am in NJ, other states may vary. The Cranky Genee On Thu, 03 Jan 2002 13:10:36 GMT, "P Johnson" <jones-pj@worldnet.att.net> wrote: >I am looking for information regarding the process of a legal name change >for a family. How is this done? Through what type of court? Would it affect >previous records? Any suggestions on how to research/get started on a family >name that has been changed would be greatly appreciated. > >Thanx for any help! > > >

Your talking about modern times and the question was about immigrants changing their names.Times change and you cannot go by modern rules and laws but look at what was done then. Requirements, if any were not so strict and I don't think many people did a formal name change as you are describing; all most did was start using a new name. Celia "Genee" <sorourke@monmouth.com> wrote in message news:3c34784a.13381534@news.monmouth.com... > > Last year I had my name changed back to my maiden name. This was not > the simple get divorced and assume your maiden name. I would think a > family change is about the same. You need a lawyer who will ask you > some questions, run an ad in the local newspaper before and after. > Then a court date is arranged and the judge will ask you why the > change, are you trying to escape creditors etc.. Time in court was > about 10 minutes, but after she granted the name change I still had to > wait a month before I could use it. It was Superior Court in my > county. I am in NJ, other states may vary. > > The Cranky Genee > > On Thu, 03 Jan 2002 13:10:36 GMT, "P Johnson" > <jones-pj@worldnet.att.net> wrote: > > >I am looking for information regarding the process of a legal name change > >for a family. How is this done? Through what type of court? Would it affect > >previous records? Any suggestions on how to research/get started on a family > >name that has been changed would be greatly appreciated. > > > >Thanx for any help! > > > > > > >