It Is a Clear-Cut Answer
Video Transcribed:
Is being transgender a proper reason for a name change in Oklahoma? I’m an attorney in Tulsa, Okla, James Wirth, and we’re talking about all issues related to petitions for name change in Oklahoma. And this one has to do with the reasons, and we talked about the very limited reasons why the court could deny a name change.
And there was a specific case that addressed this transgender issue. Essentially, in that case, somebody that was changing genders filed a petition for a name change. And that was heard by a judge, and the judge ultimately denied the petition.
Somehow, perhaps finding that the person was trying to for some illegal purpose or fraudulent purposes, which the statute requires in order to deny it. But maybe the judge was considering that showing somebody to be a different gender than they were born with somehow fits into that category.
This issue came up before the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals and that court was very clear. And it said that yes, being transgender is a proper reason for a name change, but you don’t even have to show that. You’ve got the right to a name change unless it’s for some improper purpose, some fraudulent purpose, to hide out from credit, or some illegal purpose.
And the court noted that there are females with certain, traditionally male names. There are males with traditionally female male names or androgynous names.
The name doesn’t make any difference here, whether it’s historically considered to be a more feminine name or masculine name, the court’s not going to get into any of that. It said that this is not for legal purposes.
It is not for a fraudulent purpose. And therefore this person is entitled to the name change under Oklahoma law. Is being transgender a proper reason for a name change? Absolutely in Oklahoma. It’s clear-cut. And that was decided in the matter of the application of Harvey 2012 OK CIV APP 112.
The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals made that decision. That is settled law at this point. If you’ve got questions on how this may apply to your circumstances, if you have questions for an Oklahoma attorney, you can get a consult scheduled by going to makelaweasy.com.
