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Welcome to Family Law Matters. I’m Dr. Michael Mantell, joining Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel, the owner and managing partner of the Primus Family Law Group right here in San Diego. Hi, Bonnie.
Hi, Michael. How are you doing today? I’m doing well, thank you very much. How are you doing? I’m doing okay.
You’re doing better than okay. Yes, I am doing better than okay. Very blessed.
Other than this bruise that I just noticed that I got somewhere, but I’m very blessed. Okay, good, good, good. Bonnie, if people are going through a divorce, oftentimes there’s a name change.
They go back to their maiden name or whatever it may be. That can raise concerns if it’s not complete across the board, driver’s license and insurance and all these other issues. That has implications that Primus Family Law Group, I’m sure, deals with frequently.
Talk a little bit about that with us. So, Michael, when somebody wants to go back to their maiden name as part of their divorce, there’s a box you can check on your judgment that does that. And you can then take this document to social security and DMV and blah, blah, blah.
But sometimes people don’t either forget or don’t think about it. And so now they’re stuck and they want to change their name. And now they have like a whole different process.
And we can do that. There’s one form that we do it if it’s not too far after the divorce. If, for example, your birth certificate doesn’t match your passport, which I believe happens, like people, their birth certificate says Johnny Applegate and their passport for some reason has always been Johnny Gate Apple.
And now they have two pieces of documents that don’t match. And, you know, with a real ID and you’ve got to renew your passport and you need to show a document, people are getting stuck because they have different documents. And so we can actually help them do that.
And in most cases, it’s a flat fee where we just take it, get it done, filing fees, publication fees, certification fees, get it to you. And then all you have to do is take it to the various places and get your name changed. Someone gets divorced, they have a final judgment, but they don’t want to change their name.
We’re divorced, but I’m keeping my married name. Is that possible? Yes. Okay.
Now. It’s a gift upon wedding, actually. Aha.
Yes. Ask them to give it back. The question becomes, I get I’m getting remarried.
My name is Johnson. So now I’m Johnson. Do I have to go back and fill out all this paperwork? Absolutely not.
When you get married, your wedding certificate allows you to take your husband’s name or your wife’s name. I’ve actually had people do it the other way. Right.
And so that document then goes to the DMV. So you don’t need a whole name change. It really is when your stuff doesn’t match.
You want to change your name for security reasons. Domestic violence victims don’t want to be found for security reasons. We’re going to change our name.
There’s certain shelters that we can help work with that will help you change your name. You just want to change your name. Michael Mantel, you really want to get the Moby Dick.
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You can change your name. No, but this sounds a little more complicated than maybe people think about. And if they do want to get some information about this, and probably would be wise to be guided by someone like yourself, who is experienced, of course.
How can they be in touch to get some information in a free 30-minute consultation with you? So you can reach us at 619-574-8000. Or you can reach us directly online at www.PrimusFamilyLaw.com. And we can definitely help you throughout California. That’s the one thing that we don’t just do San Diego County.
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We do it throughout California. Okay. Thank you very much, Bonnie.
This is something that I don’t think we’ve touched on before necessarily, but I’m sure that this is going to raise concerns in the minds of some people who think, wow, maybe I didn’t check that box or I need to go back and get some information. So please, the phone number for Primus Family Law for that free 30-minute consultation is 619-574-8000. Bonnie, thanks for another very interesting Family Law Matters.
We’ll see you next time. Have a great day, Michael. You too.
Bye-bye.