I received the court order yesterday from the Harris County District Court, nine days from when I requested it. The Clerk of the 11th Judicial Court is now my best friend :) :) :) The name change was a legal one :) Michele Lewis [email protected] http://ancestoring.blogspot.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Linda Johnson via Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2015 10:15 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TGF] name change Michelle, in Texas a name may be changed only by court order. The applicant must be a resident of the county where he files the application for the name change, so knowledge of his residence is essential. The Texas courts having jurisdiction over name changes are the District Court and (in recent times) the County Court at Law. If the person lives within the jurisdiction of both a County Court at Law and a District Court, an application for a name change may be filed in either court. Not all counties have County Courts at Law (Statutory County Courts), and not all County Courts at Law have jurisdiction concurrent with that of the District Court. Again, knowledge of the person’s residence is essential for determining which court might have the record. If there's any doubt, check both. An internet search of a particular county will reveal whether the county has both courts, and perhaps it will show the jurisdiction of the CC at Law. Each court’s web site should list any available on-line searches and/or provide instructions for ordering an in-person search. Some searches may require a case number; others, such as case indexes and/or dockets, may be accessible by name, either on-line or in person. In addition, many County Clerks offer on-line searching of various records, including deed records. If John Doe obtains a name-change order, has it certified and then goes to the trouble and expense of recording it, a search of the County Clerk's deed records under Doe, John, will reveal any recorded order changing his name. I hope this helps, but keep in mind that many people--including some of my ancestors--changed their names unofficially, without any court involvement. Linda --------------- Michelle wrote: I am researching whether a person changed his name legally within the court system or did not. This would be in Texas in the 1970s. I am not familiar with the Texas court system. Does anyone know which court in Texas would handle a name change and would this be something that would be indexed where it would be easily found by the clerk. Unfortunately, I can't narrow the dates much. I know he used his new name in 1979 on a Texas marriage license. He was using his old name though at least 1969 so I am looking at a 10 year time period. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2015.0.5751 / Virus Database: 4311/9342 - Release Date: 03/20/15