How do you change your surname without going to court?

Answer 1

You can petition the court for a legal name change, your local Clerk of the Court office MAY even have the forms for you to use. (NOTE: Think long and hard about doing this! The older you are when you do it the more time consuming and tedious this process becomes. You have NO idea of the number of official records and documents that are required to be changed, altered, and corrected.)

Answer 2

You file the completed forms at the courthouse and attend a hearing. Some states require that you publish a notice in the local newspaper too and some states also have you sign a form or complete a fingerprint card so they can do a background check on you.

Answer 3

As long as you are not using it to commit fraud you can call yourself what ever you want. Getting I.D. for that name may be a different matter. That is probably why the courts are involved in "legal" name changes.