How Hard is Changing Your Name?

I've been dealing with a name change situation for what seems like forever now.  Today, FINALLY I was able to get the court part of it taken care of.  The guy who represesnted me....which I'm not even sure if that's what he did, I just know he came straight to me in the lobby like he knew me and walked me through the court room doors and the rest of the proceedings from there. He was a really interesting guy which made the fifteen minutes the judge was late way easier to handle.  He was a Texas Ranger at one point and has been in law enforcement for fifty three years! Turns out we know a ton of the same people.  Anyway, the court part felt more like going on trial for something really serious then it did for just a simple name change but I suppose that's just standard procedure. It all started because apparently when my ex's attorney (whom he obtained after telling me he wouldn't so we could file things ourselves and save everyone a whole lot of time, money and stress) put the paperwork together she didn't bother to ask the customary question most all women are asked when they are in the process of filing divorce papers.... do you want to keep your married name or go back to your maiden?  Well, she didn't ask and it ended up costing me a stupid amount of time and money and more than anything just plain hassle.  If you are ever in a position where you need or want to change your name for any reason here is what you do (as long as you live in Texas).

First go to Texas Law Help.  There you will find the necessary forms you will need to print and fill out.  Then give your local police department a call and find out when they do fingerprinting.  You'll need to have those done so you can bring a copy with you to submit with your other forms.  Once you have those things you bring them to the county courthouse, if you're in Midland it's the 3rd floor of the Midland County Courthouse on Loraine St.  The clerk will take your paperwork and your money...oh yeah it's almost $300 bucks to change your name so if you're getting divorced and you want to go back to your maiden name or whatever it was before, be sure to tell whomever is drawing up the paperwork to put that in there.  An appointment to see the judge will be scheduled and as long as you show up and you're not changing your name to avoid trouble with the law or tax evasion you're good to go.

So if you decide to change your name to Princess Unicorn Glitter Sparkles Rainbow Bright or Captain Badass McMaster of the Universe...you'll know what to do.