Personal Debts and Name Changes

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worldsmiths

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Hello, I'm a 31 year old woman who is looking to change her name (first, middle, and last) in California. I am doing this for personal reasons and because I don't want my parents and siblings to be able to find me: they've been persecuting me all my life for being anything other than a certain specific religion.

My concern and question, though, has to do with a line that I had no noticed before when considering a name change, that I must affirm that I am not doing this to commit fraud or to hide from my creditors.

Well, firstly, I'm not. That has never been my intention. I can admit that I had hoped that changing my name might give me a chance to start over with a new credit record with the big three credit unions, but I never intended to change my name so that former creditors could not find me. I just figured that I would change my name, tell the SS people and the DMV, and then be done. I never even bothered to consider that I might have to tell my old creditors: can't a person just pay old debts under their old name?

My debt history is like this: I owe the IRS a bit from a few years ago when I made a mistake with one of my tax returns and I'm trying to pay that off, I still have student loans to pay, and I owe money on several accounts - phone companies, a credit line with my bank - that have gone delinquent because I've been unemployed. Those debts I know about. Now Obviously I would tell the IRS and the Student Loan peoples that I'd changed my name, but if changing my name requires me to mail a handful of current creditors and agencies, I can do that, too.

But my financial past is a problem. Well, to be fair, my financial history is sort of a disaster! When I was 21, ten years ago, and living in Colorado, I tried my hand at living on my own, out of college, and did terribly: I wound up with several credit account debts that I thought I could pay and wound up not being able to pay and two overdrawn checking accounts that my banks charged off and shut down. I had to give up credit completely for many years ten years because my credit report was shot and between Student Loans and these credit accounts I've been living from check to check since then. None of that appears on my credit report any more because the debts that I managed to pay off have closed and the ones I never could pay off have long since passed their statute of limitations - they've stopped contacting me.

A) I'm changing my name for personal, family-related issues that have nothing to do with trying to evade debts that I cannot pay. Would I be committing fraud if I changed my name and didn't tell all my creditors? What I mean is: does this have to do with intent or am I actually required to turn around and tell all of my creditors that I've changed my name? Is anyone actually going to check up on my debts and make sure I've told, say, my water company from two years ago in another state that I changed my name?

B) If I am required to tell my creditors, what happens if I forget one or two? And how far back do I have to go? If I had a payment plan on a desktop computer that I fell behind on TEN YEARS ago and never managed to pay off and the statute of limitations has passed for that debt, am I required to turn around and tell them that I changed my name? That would see to defeat the purpose of a statute of limitations.

I know it must sound like I'm a terrible person, and maybe I am? But I don't set out to acquire debt I can't pay. I lived for many years without using any form of credit (including an overdraft account) because I knew I had problems budgeting and making my payments on time. I pay my rent and utilities and student loans and everything essential ON TIME, but I wind up with other things such as a phone bill that I can't afford to pay because my paycheck was short this month or I needed to buy groceries or something and put off and put off until the late fees have grown so much that I CAN'T pay it, no matter what. I've also been unemployed three times in the last three years (which is why I'm going back to school now) which has dragged me back into debt after I worked and waited so long to be free of it.

I just want to change my name so that I can live my life free of worry that my father will show up at my door some night. If anyone could answer my two questions above: (A + B), I'd be very grateful.
 
You're over thinking this, too much.
If your motives are as you say, that you are not changing your name other than to ensure relatives don't find you. You have no worries. No one can see into your heart or decipher your deepest thoughts.

Leave the other stuff to other people. It bears little on what you're legally able to do, change your name.

Go for it, if it's what you wanna do. Stop making your motives seem impure. As long as you shut up, no one needs to know anything more than you wanna change your name.

As far as creditor notification, you don't have to tell them anything, as far as I'm aware. If California law says differently, follow the letter if the law.

You do know that there are 49 other states in the union, right? Some states make it much easier than California to change your name.

Why not speak to a couple of local attorneys about changing your name? The initial consultation is free in most cases. The discussion might be very revealing and enlightening, before you proceed.


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