I am interested in changing my first name, how can I do this? I also found
a company on line called Legalzoom.com that says you can do this
without a lawyer.  Are they legitimate?

---

Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 04 Jan 2005 14:01 PST

Dear Royalty, 

You'll have to tell us where you live (country? state/province?),
because the laws might be different from one place to another.

---

Clarification of Question by royalty7-ga on 05 Jan 2005 05:12 PST

I forgot to say I live in New York State.

---

Clarification of Question by royalty7-ga on 06 Jan 2005 07:41 PST

This is the second time I am clarifying my request.  Please let me
know your answer.

I live in New York State.

Dear Royalty, 

You don't have to have an attorny to change your name, if you can
handle the forms yourself: what this company probably offers is to do
the legal services for you, but the name change itself is done with
official state authorities, not with private firms.

Here are the regulations and forms as published in the New York State
Court Authority site:
Name Changes
<http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/civil/namechanges.shtml> 

Here is some further information: 

How to Legally Change Your Name in New York City
<http://www.srlp.org/documents/nc_english.html> 

Monroe County Legal Assistance Center 
How to change your name in New York 
<http://mclac.com/name_change.htm> (this document is also available in Spanish on: 
C?mo cambiar su nombre en New York
<http://mclac.com/Spanish/OtherS/cambio_de_nombre.htm> 

The Transnational Male
How to legally change your name in the State of New York
<http://www.thetransitionalmale.com/newyorkstatenc> - please note,
that this is not an official guide, but based on a user's exprience.

I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need ay
further clarifications on this answer before you rate it. My search
terms have been:
"new york state" "changing your name"
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22new+york+state%22+%22changing+your+name%22&btnG=Google+Search>

I did this a littl eover a year ago and had a pretty hard time trying
to figure out how to do it witout a lawyer.  I think the law will be
different in each state (I was in Texas) but I would say the
guidelines will be the same.  The biggest peice of the puzzle was
finding the correct agency to speak with (County Clerk) who could then
direct me in the right direction.  Here is a link that outlines the
steps I followed.

http://qcumberland.com/index.php/archives/2004/07/07/legal-name-change-in-the-state-of-texas/

Good luck.