Overview

In India, there are various reasons for a person to change his/her name. It could be due to marriage, for good luck, or for a new identity. The process of changing one's name is very time-consuming because of lots of administrative formalities. At Legal tax , we will take care of all the documentation and filings, making your experience happy, easy and hassle- free.

What Is a Legal Name Change?

Sometimes people wish to be addressed by a name different from their name, some common reason stated below

• A desire for a fancy new name

• Correction of spelling in the current name

• Change of religion

• Change of gender

• After marriage

• After divorce

• Astronomical reasons

Though informally you can request your relatives and friends to address you by a new name, you have to change your name through a legal process also that reflects the changes in all your identity cards, educational, and other important documents.

STEPS FOR CHANGING NAME

Documents required

A checklist of documents will be given to record your details

Drafting

After you share the filled questionnaire, we will draft and share for verification/attestation
1) Affidavit
2) Proforma and 3) Application for publication in an official gazette

Dispatching documents

You will have to sign the documents and courier hard copies of the document after notary.

Newspaper publication

We will publish an article of name change in a national newspaper on your behalf .

Application for publication in an official gazette

After publication of the article, we will submit the application and documents for publication of name change in the official gazette, addressed to the Department of Publication, New Delhi.

Publication in an official gazette

Publication of your name change will be made in an official gazette in between 15 days to 50 days from the date of application

Dispatch of the official gazette

After gazette publication, we will send you a copy of the official gazette letter/published article..

Documents Required to Change a Legal Name in India

1. Advertisement in the newspaper (original and photocopy of advertisement appearing in the newspaper)

2. Affidavit for Name Change

3. Prescribed proforma for change of name. The proforma should be signed by minimum two witnesses and the following witness details are required:

   • Full Name

   • Address

   • Mobile/ Phone No.

4. A Compact Disc (CD) that contains a soft copy of the Proforma without witness details. In place of the signature, applicant’s old name is to be stated

5. A certificate stating that details of the CD and Hard copy are similar

6. Two self-attested passport size photos

7. Photocopy of identity proof of the Applicant (photocopy of any one of the following documents will suffice: Aadhar card, passport, voter ID card, PAN card, driving license)

8. A Cover Letter

9. Demand Draft for payment of fees.

Procedure of Name Change in India

Name change procedure involves the some steps:
Affidavit submission, an announcement published in the newspaper and a notification published in the Gazette of India. While following these steps, the applicant will require certain documents attested by the Judicial Magistrate/Notary

Step 1: To Create The Name Change Affidavit

The first step is affidavit submission. To do this, you’ll have to contact a notary. The following points would make the process simpler:

1. Approach your local notary and mention your request.

2. The notary would suggest the stamp paper of the required value on which the affidavit is made.

3. The following details need to be provided:

   • Name and new name
   • Current address
   • Reason for name change

4. Once the affidavit is printed, it needs to be signed by two witnesses with applicant .

5. In case of a central government employee, the name change procedure must be done in lieu of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

6. Married women changing their name, must furnish the following details:

   • Current name with father’s name and address
   • New name with husband’s name and address
   • Marriage date

Step 2: Placing Advertisement

If you have made the affidavit, the next step is to publish an advertisement in the leading local daily newspapers that you have changed your name. The advertisement must include your

1. Old name

2. New name (purposed to be)

3. Date of birth

4. Residential address

5. Name of witnessing authority

6. Place and date on which the affidavit is made.

Newspaper Ad Format

The newspapers allot a column for these kinds of notifications. The format for placing a name change ad in newspaper is given below:

I, Rakesh r/o Kishan kumari, Begur road, Bangalore, Karnataka have changed my name to Sourav, sworn in front of Notary M. kirpal on 25/05/2020.

Once your notification is published in the newspaper, remember to collect copies and store it for future use. it is better to store as many original newspaper ad copies as you can, to be on the safer side.

Note: Married women who would like to change their surname after marriage, should add their husband’s name and address in the notification

Step :3 Gazette Notification

Gazette publication is the final step of the name change process. Once the Gazette notification is published, your name will be legally changed. Once the application is received by the officials, the documents will be checked and sent for notification to the respective Govt. of India Press. It usually takes around 15 to 50 days for name change advertisements to appear in the Gazette Publication. Applicants can download the e-copy from the Digital Directory of the Gazette of India. Also, a copy of the name change notification in the Gazette of India will be sent to your residential address by post.

After publication of the article, your name will be published in the official national gazette. We will track the publication daily. Once the publication is done, we will send you a soft copy of the gazette with the details of the e-publication page.

Note: The name change Gazette notification is mandatory for those in employment with the government. However, it is a substantial proof of your name change. Since it just involves sending a few documents for publication, it makes sense to go through with it.

Fee for Gazette Notification

Now the name change process in India is over. Let us discuss the gazette name change online fees.. The amount charged for Gazette notifications varies either ₹ 700 or ₹ 900/- depending on whether you want a public notice or not.
You can pay the money either in cash or by a demand draft/postal order drawn in favour of’ the Controller of Publication, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi – 110054’. This is the address you need to visit in case you will be submitting it in person (office hours are between 10 AM and 1 PM and 2 PM to 3 PM on any working day), or you can courier/speed post the envelope with all details to the address mentioned above. Check the website of the Department of Publication (Government of India) for further details.

WHY TO CHOOSE LEGAL TAX FOR Name Change Procedure?

All the steps can be made much more simple with LEGAL TAX. We make the process quickly,convenient and easy with proper guidance. Moreover, you just need to provide your basic details and scans of your documents. We are ready to go that extra mile to help our clients. We provide our best services to our customers always and ready to resolve any kind of issues related to the certification process. Don’t hesitate to talk to our experts to know more about the process

• We draft the name change affidavit

• We ensure that the newspaper publication is done

• We inform you when the gazette notification is published

• The process is 100% online

• Our experts guide you throughout the process

• Our support team will answer all your queries.

To start with the process, we will need your basic details such as old name, new name, residential address, ID proof, photographs etc. The rest will be taken care of by us. All you need to do is sit back and relax!