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| Q. |
I'm getting married soon. What procedure do I follow to change my name on the official Illinois list of attorneys? If I use my maiden name in my business, do I still have to register my new married name? |
T. J. THURSTON, HUNTLEY. You must file a
motion with the clerk of the supreme court to change your name on the
master roll. Instructions on how to do this are available at the ARDC's
Web site using this link: http://www.
iardc.org/reqfornamechange.html
If you continue to use your maiden name for business purposes, you don't need to change to your married name on the master roll. The master roll is primarily for identification purposes. However, if you change your name to your married name (or change back to a maiden name after a divorce) for all other purposes, I would recommend you do so for the practice of law as well. But many people keep the name that their clients and colleagues know them by best, because a change may affect the recognition or the "marketing" of their name from a business perspective, especially those attorneys that have developed a practice with a specific name.
Finally, if your law firm is "Law Offices of Jane Doe" or "Doe, Smith & Hemlock" and you change your name from Jane Doe to Jane Buck, then you will also need to change your business name registration (whether that is a d/b/a or LLC or other organization form) and also in compliance with Supreme Court Rule 721.
MARK C. PALMER, CHAMPAIGN. The ARDC website provides fairly simple instructions on the required motion to be filed with the clerk of the supreme court to change your name on the roll of attorneys. The United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, provides a space for name change notification on its "Notification of Change of Address" form, also found online. The United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, Local Rule 83.5(H) requires notice to the clerk of the court in writing of any "relevant circumstances change" for an attorney, including a name change. As such, it would seem appropriate to give written notice of the name change to all courts to which you have been admitted. Also, it would be wise to notify your local clerk of the circuit court of the name change for any local attorney roll or list that may be kept with that office. Lastly, do not forget about bar associations, your alma maters, and your business and personal contacts, especially if the name change results in an alteration to your email address (if possible, keep your old email address active, set all emails to be forwarded to your new email account so you may respond to them from the new account).
GREG ZBYLUT CHICAGO. An additional question is: "What else should I change?"
If you truly want to take your spouses name, you must change your name with Social Security. If you don't, you'll be denied benefits because Social Security will have you as Susie X, not Susie Y. More importantly, if you file your tax return under your married name without having changed it with Social Security, the return will be rejected.
Then there's the Driver's license info, beneficiaries on the IRA....but those are subjects for another day.
ERICA CROHN MINCHELLA, SKOKIE. If you are not going to be using your married name professionally, you do not need to go through the process with the supreme court. You only need to go through the name change on personal items such as your social security, bank accounts, driver's license, etc. You may want to think about how you have your paycheck written, though, as you will be filing your taxes under your married name and that will be the name that the social security administration will have for you on file. The mere fact that you are practicing under your maiden name does not require that your paycheck be written under that name.
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