Senate Bill No. 139
(By Senators Kessler, Foster, Green, Jenkins, Minard, Stollings,
Wells, White, Barnes, Caruth, Deem, Hall, McKenzie and Yoder)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported January 18, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §48-25-101 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to procedures for name
change; and denial of petition if the circuit or family court
judge makes a certain finding.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §48-25-101 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 25. CHANGE OF NAME.
§48-25-101. Petition to circuit court or family court for change
of name; contents thereof; notice of application.
(a) Any person desiring a change of his or her own name, or
that of his or her child or ward, may apply therefor to the circuit
court or family court of the county in which he or she resides by
a verified petition setting forth and affirming the following:
(1) That he or she has been a bona fide resident of the county
for at least one year prior to the filing of the petition;
(2) The cause for which the change of name is sought;
(3) The new name desired;
(4) The name change is not for purposes of avoiding debt or
creditors;
(5) The petitioner seeking said name change is not a
registered sex offender pursuant to any state or federal law;
(6) The name change sought is not for purposes of avoiding any
state or federal law regarding identity;
(7) The name change sought is not for any improper or illegal
purpose; and
(8) The petitioner is not a convicted felon in any
jurisdiction.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, a nonresident of the county may apply for a change of name
if the person was born in the county, was married in the county and
was previously a resident of the county for a period of at least
fifteen years.
(c) Previous to the filing of the petition, the person shall
cause a notice of the time and place that the application will be
made to be published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance
with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this
code. The publication area for the publication is the county:
Provided, That the publication shall contain a provision that the
hearing may be rescheduled without further notice or publication.
(d) If the circuit court or family court judge finds that the
petitioner is attempting to obtain the name change for any purpose which is prohibited by law or finds that the petitioner has
misrepresented any of the facts required to be verified in the
petition, the judge shall deny the petition and report the attempt
to the appropriate law-enforcement agency.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that petitions
for a name change are to be denied if the court finds the
petitioner is seeking the name change for reasons prohibited by law
or has misrepresented to the court.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
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