When my son, who lives in Oregon, turned 18, he wanted to change his legal name from his father's surname to my maiden name. He went to the county courthouse, asked the clerk for papers to change his name, filled them out, posted them at the courthouse the required time (two weeks, in this case; an alternate is a legal notice in the newspaper), and at the end of the waiting period the judge simply signed the name change request. The filing fee was $87. Although he had used my maiden name for his last name most of his life, on school and employment records, he had trouble with obtaining a passport prior to the age of 18. It was issued in his legal name under his father's surname with an "AKA" noted on one page of the passport. The other problem was resolving the social security name and number, which in turn was a problem for us when we claimed him as a dependent, as his name and his SS# did not match. Once he changed his name legally, those issues were resolved. Ellie "P Johnson" <jones-pj@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:<gLYY7.322468$W8.12308214@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>... > 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!