Whether you are getting married, divorced or are tired of people who pronounce your name wrong, the decision to change your name should be yours alone. So how do you do that legally, let’s find out!
The procedure can be mainly divided into three steps that each come with their own set of prerequisites.
- Affidavit Submission: The first document you would need is an affidavit duly attested by a notary or a first class magistrate including your details like your previous name, your current name, the reasons for changing your name, and so on. It is advisable that you make numerous copies of this affidavit as you could need it in the future too while dealing with governmental agencies to show as proof.
- Ad Publication: The second step after you obtain the affidavit is to publish the notice of your change in name in the newspaper. You can choose two newspapers out of which one can be in the local language of the state and the other in English. The ad includes the details like your previous name, your current name, your husband’s name and date of marriage (in the case of married women), current address, date of the affidavit, and the name of the notary.
- Gazette Notification: The final step is to publish a notification in the Gazette of India regarding the change in name. All you have to do is send in your documents to the Controller of Publication. Once the notification gets published, your name change process will be legally complete. A notification in the Gazette becomes your proof that you can use to modify your other legal documents like your passport, PAN card, driver’s license, etc.
Remember to notify your employers, banks, post office, and other such institutions about your change in the name so they can alter their records accordingly.