IN RE PETITION FOR NAME CHANGE FROM ROBERT PAUL BOYD TO ROBERT PAUL BOYD COON, APPELLANT
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A Florida state prison inmate appealed the trial court's summary denial of his petition to change his name from Robert Paul Boyd to Robert Paul Boyd Coon. The appellate court reversed, holding that the trial court erred in summarily denying the petition without a hearing and that if the court's concern was impacts on correctional and law enforcement agencies, those agencies should have an opportunity to be heard.
A trial court must grant a petition for name change if the petition is facially sufficient and no showing has been made that the change was sought for wrongful purposes. If the trial court has concerns about the name change (such as problems for the Department of Corrections and law enforcement), it should hold a hearing to allow those agencies notice and an opportunity to be heard, rather than summarily denying the petition.
“A trial court should grant a petition for name change if the petition is facially sufficient and no showing has been made that the change was sought for wrongful purposes.”
Establishes the legal standard governing name change petitions in Florida
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRobert Paul Boyd, a state prison inmate, filed a petition for a name change to Robert Paul Boyd Coon. The trial court summarily denied the petition wi…
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PATTERSON, Judge.
The appellant challenges the order denying his petition for a name change. We agree that the trial court erred in summarily denying the petition and reverse.
A trial court should grant a petition for name change if the petition is facially sufficient and no showing has been made that the change was sought for wrongful purposes. Isom v. Circuit Court of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, 437 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). The court has the discretion to order a hearing to determine the truthfulness of the allegations in the petition. Casey v. State, 604 So. 2d 1281 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992).
In the present case, the petitioner is a state prison inmate. If the trial court’s basis for denying the petition was its concern that the name change would create problems for the Department of Corrections and law enforcement agencies, a hearing would give the agencies notice and an opportunity to be heard on the matter. Casey, 604 So. 2d at 1282. The inmate petitioner need not be present at the hearing, but may present tes-. timony by other means, e.g., deposition, videotape, or telephone. Gosby v. Third Judicial Circuit, 586 So. 2d 1056 (Fla.1991).
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
FRANK, C.J., and RYDER, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Gosby v. Third Judicial Circuit, 586 So. 2d 1056 (Fla. 1991)
- Isom v. The Cir. Court OF the Tenth Jud. Cir., 437 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)
- Casey v. State, 604 So. 2d 1281 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)