There are a number of reasons why someone would seek to have their name changed legally, though the reason I changed my name was to match my gender identity and have all my official documents read “Elsa.” Thankfully, the school was able to help with that by linking me up with Legal Action MKE.
Legal Action is a law firm with a mission to serve the people who need it most in Wisconsin. They specialize in assisting those enduring cases involving racism, classism, ageism, homophobia, and sexism. Their services go beyond assisting people with the legal name change process, and if you are seeking legal aid and are a student at MATC, you may qualify for their services free of charge.
The first step to utilizing this valuable community partnership was to reach out to the Student Resource Center. Haley Weber in the SRC was able to connect me to a clerk from Legal Action who very quickly sent me an intake form. The form was simple, and I was able to do it from my own computer. The process is similar to filling out a benefits sheet for Foodshare and other forms of public assistance, asking for my basic information including income and work status.
After submitting the form, I received a call from Legal Action. We talked for about 20 minutes and went through eligibility for the program. Afterwards, I was sent documents to be signed before I could finally meet with the lawyer from Legal Action who would take on my case.
The call with my assigned lawyer, Evan, was roughly another 30 minutes. In that time, he walked me through the process and what the legal system needed for my case to be successful. We made an appointment to meet over at the Legal Action Office (which is only a few blocks south of the Downtown Campus) where we signed some forms together. One of these provided a court waiver that exempted me from the $168 fee associated with the legal name change order.
The forms that we filled out together were then hand delivered to the Milwaukee County Courthouse (which is also only a few blocks away from the Downtown Campus). After going through a metal detector, I was then sent all over the place and visited several different offices before I landed in my court room.There, the clerk took my paperwork, and set a court date that was five weeks out from my initial visit to the courthouse.
The shuffling from office to office was a bit confusing, but there was a helpful woman at the information desk on the “g” floor who offered assistance. I also did not expect to need a few dollars in cash for an expense or two, and I advise anyone undertaking this process to come prepared.
In the time between the court date and my first visit to the courthouse, I was expected to issue a public notice by running an ad in a local newspaper for three weeks. Legal Action had given me a warning that this was required and helped me choose the Milwaukee Community Journal. This public notice required me to bring my court documents to the Community Journal Office, as well as $105 in cash to pay for the fee.
After three weeks, I returned to the Community Journal Office to pick up the affidavit stating that I had run the name change for three weeks and was compliant with the Wisconsin Law asking that I do so.
With that affidavit, the court documents from my previous visit (including my fee waiver), and my birth certificate, I went to the courthouse where the judge asked me only a few simple questions and the deed was done. Changing my name legally has been a goal of mine for years, and I do not think that I could have done it without this life changing resource.
