On taking a new name

[sandra-leigh]

I don't know if I ever will take a new legal name, but I think about it. And you know me -- Ms. Think Think and Think Again.

Around here, one of the criteria for taking a new legal name, is that one must present evidence that one is already using the name. But how does one actually use a new name for that purpose?

I know that under British Common Law (inherited by Canada and USA), one is entitled to use any name provided that one is not doing so fraudulently. However, these days I don't seem to find opportunities to do that.

For example, banks want official government ID. Official government ID here is always in your legal name. Banks are required to use the official name, primarily because of "money laundering" laws (but it probably won't be so long before the anti-terrorism laws lock it in completely.)

The health system here runs off an official (provincial) government health ID card. Even when I go into the trans clinic, regulations say that they are supposed to check my health card every time, and that's in my male name. The clinic tries (but does not always succeed) in referring to people according to their chosen name.

Pharmacy... the prescriptions have to be under my legal name.

Physiotheraphy... is an official enough health service that I had to show my provincial health ID card and so that's what all my records are under.

Massage therapy is not currently official enough to want the health card, but if I want to claim the services against my employee health insurance plan, the insurance companies have me down under my legal name.

Work... until I was laid off a few weeks ago, my employer had to have me under my legal name. Partly that was to provide a link to taxes, but partly it was because it was government and This Is Policy. The employee database did at least have a "known by" field, but the email addresses had to be legal name (due to a Regulation with force of law.) Names on the office doors had to be legal first initial and legal last name.

About the only possibility I have come up with, is that if I purchase prepaid credit cards, then I can register them in any name I like (until they outlaw that...)

So, how does one actually establish a legal existence under the new name sufficient to be considered to be already using the name?

The other half of the question here is, how does one go about "publicly" (if not legally) using a new name before it is legally changed? Just tell people, "Call me Sandra", and live with the discomfort of sometimes having to pull out male ID?

There is something about the process of establishing a history of the new name that would seem to clash with the principle that has been discussed here, of "Don't tell anyone!". And if nothing else, it would seem likely to inspire uncomfortably many questions from people who know you under your male name. I get the feeling that a legal name change can act as a bit of a shield against questions -- saying that you got a legal name change gives the "Please call me..." Authority beyond people's jurisdiction to question, but without the Piece Of Paper, asking could be deemed to be a "favour" and people might expect you to explain in return for their cooperation...

[Kathryn Martin]

Under Ontario Law you go here and change your name by application:

How do I formally change my own name?

You can formally and legally change your first and/or second name and/or last name.
Applicants who are 16 or 17-years-old may also apply to have their names changed as an adult, with the written consent of the person(s) who have lawful custody of them, unless the applicant is married or a judge has dispensed with the consent requirement.
To change your name as an adult, you must:


Be 16 years of age or older.
Have lived in Ontario for at least one year before submitting a change of name application.

You’ll be issued a change of name certificate with your new legal name(s) and you’ll receive a new birth certificate if you were born in Ontario.
If you were not born in Ontario, you will need to apply to the province or territory in Canada or other country where you were born for a new birth certificate.
Fees
The fee for a formal name change is $137.
Service delivery time
Where applications are complete and accurate the service delivery time is 6 to 8 weeks.
How do I apply for a legal name change?
Download the Application to Change an Adult’s Name (http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/FormDetail?OpenForm&ACT=RDR&TAB=PROFILE&ENV=WWE&NO=007-11155E), fill it out, then mail in the completed form and original documents to the Office of the Registrar General.
Further information
Please see the frequently asked questions (http://www.ontario.ca/en/information_bundle/individuals/119600.html) or contact the Office of the Registrar General toll free at 1-800-461-2156 or in Toronto at 416-325-8305.






Once you have your certificate of name change you send a certified copy of it to all of your service providers, including banks, OHIP, CRA etc and voila.

After I sent off the application I called myself by my new name.


Good Luck

[Babeba]

Sign up to grocery store loyalty. Get that email address. Volunteer in that name.

My last name is stupidly (awesomely?) long, and my family shortens it all the time. I could easily change it to the short form, I have been using it for ages because nobody ever told me not to.

[sandra-leigh]

Interesting. I was in fact born in Ontario, but I have not lived there for some time so I would need to use the procedures where-ever I was at the time. I have just gone through the Manitoba information and I see that if I were to be approved here then they would notify Ontario. I do not, however, seem to find the Manitoba forms online, other than the ones for change of name arising out of a change in marriage or common-law relationship.

I found an interesting part in the Ontario information, having to do with publication in the Ontario Gazette. It indicates,


The Attorney General can make exceptions if publishing a name change could cause significant harm to the individual, or if a person requests that his or her name change not be published because he or she is transgendered at the time of the application.

The Manitoba description does not have the same TG provision, but does allow the applicant to request no publication due to "undue hardship".

Anyhow, I do see that the Manitoba form does not ask for or require proof that one has already been using the name; the closest it gets to that is that publication in the Manitoba Gazette can be waived if one is already commonly known by that name. (The "Change Of Name Act" uses "surname" in this provision.)

[CharleneT]

I think you are over thinking this !

[Brittany North]

BC, like Ontario is pretty easy, just a notarized application (I don't think I even had to give a particular reason). Had to get fingerprinted, but no judge, no newspaper publication or any of that stuff. Got the certificate back in just a week and a bit too, which was surprising. Still waiting on my Ontario birth certificate though, which has been 3 weeks now.

BC notified Ontario, but I still had to fill out the specific form for a new birth certificate and send them my old original.

[sandra-leigh]

Those darn alumni magazines! I can always tell when they've sold my name to credit card companies yet again, as they are one of the few places that has my middle name on the record. I've been feuding with mine for a good 20 years :eek:

Anyhow...

I appreciate the responses on the legal aspects. I wonder if someone might be willing to say more about how they convinced other people to change the name you were called? And when did you start that -- e.g., did you wait until the legal name change, or did you start doing it years before? Before you even "passed" regularly ? And how about with respect to close family -- "early on" or "late in the game" ?