How to Correct an Illegal Name Change
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida is my present residence but my place of birth is New York.
My situation is unique one to say the least.
When I was about six years old,my biological wanted a divorce,they decided to give me on a temp basis to another couple till the divorce was complete and at that point they would decide where I would reside permantly.
The couple who had no family ties to me or my parents decided to take off in the middle of the night an moved to Florida,they forged my birth certificate putting their information on it and changing my last name to theirs.
They had me baptized an utilized the baptismal as a form of id to get me a social security card.
Fast foward to 2000,I am finally made aware of this by my biological family member that found me via a private investigator.
I have since tried to change my last name back to my birth name with no success!! Other than a birth certificate with a raised seal from NY,I cannot prove this occured. My family did file a rit of haboius corpus for me to be presented to the court but needless to say that never occured..
I really want to carry on my birth name and have no idea as to what I can do,Please offer any info,I'm at a loss here...
Re: How to Correct an Illegal Name Change
You can't prove it occurred because what you describe is not possible. A birth certificate is a protected record that cannot be changed except by court order. These people could only change your birth certificate to reflect themselves as your parents by a lawful order of adoption. Perhaps you don't understand what happened.
Further, nothing appears to be stopping you from filing a name change petition and changing your surname to whatever you want.
Re: How to Correct an Illegal Name Change
Actually, it is very possible. They could not have forged the original birth certificate but could forge a copy of it. However, I would think that it would have a serial number or other identifying characteristics that couldn't be forged or would make it obvious that it was forged. Did they change the date of birth?
For a long time document security was not an issue at the city and county level. It was very easy to forge documents. Deaths were not tied to birth records, for example, allowing people to assume the identity of dead people.
It is not like you don't know what your name really is. You know your original name. The birth certificate is really immaterial at this point.
Just file a petition with the court to change your name as in any name change.