It Has Been Decreed, Apparently

name change decree

Normally a letter showing up in your box with the return address SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA is probably not good news, but today it was. For me, anyway, I don’t know about you.

Four months ago I filed the paperwork, then in October they sent it back to me because a couple of forms were missing, but now, here it is, a DECREE CHANGING NAME.

The superior court really likes to write things IN ALL CAPS, so I’m just following their lead.

So, yes, a judge has legally changed my name to Hannah, now what? Well, now the fun begins, of course. Starting with the Social Security Administration, then on to the DMV, passport, banks, credit cards, health insurance, job, and on and on and on.

None of that is, you know, automatic when the name change becomes legal. You have to change your name everywhere yourself, using 100 different processes and sets of rules. So this isn’t the end of the process, it’s just the beginning.

One good thing is everyone already knows me as Hannah at work. Only a few people high up in the company and the HR people know my old name, but it will be nice to officially get rid of it there and everywhere else. Well, dear old dad isn’t going to like it – I finally heard back from him, more on that later – but for me, it’s like a new world.

I’ve talked about how weird it is to change your name, and that hasn’t changed. It’s still kind of surprising when someone calls me Hannah, but I guess it takes more than a few months to get used to changing something you’ve had for half a century. Or more. I’m really old if I haven’t mentioned that before.

But here we are. Here I am! It has been decreed!

WRITTEN BY A HUMAN

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