Becoming Alexis - Part Two

The Court Process

I realized shortly after publishing my first blog post in this series that the beginning of the court petition filing window is the worst time to begin writing, as the next step is to sit and wait for six weeks. I figured I’d start next with describing the court process itself.

California is the leader of the 50 United States in promoting access to justice. This is most clearly evidenced by the existence of hundreds of standardized forms created and posted publicly and for free by the Judicial Council of California. A huge number of different scenarios in California state courts, everything from name changes to small claims, divorces to default judgments, can be done using pre-filled forms.

This is not to say that California courts make it easy for people. It’s just comparatively easier than it is in most-to-all other states. There are three commonly used sets of forms to change names and genders in California: one for updating name only; one for updating name and gender marker (or just gender marker); and one for people under the age of 18. The California court system website also has published a how-to guide for people changing their name and/or gender marker, including packets of all the forms necessary to file a petition.

I live in San Francisco, which is generally one of the easier courts to obtain a name/gender change in, and the one I’m most familiar with, as I’ve represented dozens of clients in San Francisco. San Francisco does have a unique requirement of proving residency through the presentation of a photo ID or other document showing your name and home address, although it is not enforced consistently throughout the clerk’s office. Not all counties in California have the same level of access, however. For example: Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Monterey, and El Dorado Counties have additional forms that are only necessary for residents of those counties, and which are not particularly easy to find. San Mateo County has a requirement to file your birth certificate along with your filing, which is illegal and something I’d like to fix. Contra Costa County only accepts filings in-person but puts up many barriers to doing so. Orange County is the only California county that requires a hearing for every petition. Many California counties require electronic filing of court documents, which means that a layperson would have to create an account on a third-party website, most of the time. Some of the more rural California counties have no information available whatsoever on their websites as to how to file a petition for name/gender change. The timeframe in which a judge will sign the order is, under state law, six weeks for all name/gender change petitions, but in practice, this length of time varies significantly.

All those reasons, and more, are why, as the currently only attorney at Identity Affirmation Workshop, I insist on representing each client in their court petition. When a petitioner has an attorney listed, the attorney has the ability to act on their client’s behalf, and courts are often much more responsive to attorneys than they are to litigants.

There are multiple clear benefits to name/gender change practice in California. First, normally name/gender petitions must be filed where the petitioner then lives, but California courts permit anyone born or married in California to file a petition here, even if the state in which they live does not permit them to change their name or gender. Second, the existence of standardized court forms greatly decreases the variability of petitions and requirements imposed by courts, which often have broad discretion as to how they handle cases. Third, as of January 1, 2024, all petitions for minors are automatically sealed by the court and are therefore only visible to the person changing their name/gender, their parents (who must sign onto the petition), and their attorney. Fourth, California unqualifiedly permits “X” gender markers and changing gender to “Nonbinary,” which provides a third option for people who do not identify as either female or male, woman or man.

Despite all of these advantages, incomparable to any other U.S. state, there is vast room for improvement in California courts. The significant differences between various Superior Courts in disparate counties lead to confusion, extra cost, and extra time spent on petitions. Often, these court petitions are a major factor in affirming people’s identities, and frequently come with time-sensitivity to assist with people’s gender dysphoria. I am interested in meeting with clients in some of the more problematic California counties (San Mateo, Orange, Contra Costa) who are able to wait to file their petitions for a while as I file extraordinary writs to counteract some of the more illegal and harmful current court practices.

Cost is also a serious consideration in these petitions. The new case filing fee statewide is $435, which is not a small amount of money. Many people qualify for court fee waivers, but those are also implemented quite differently between counties. I recently had a fee waiver in Orange County denied that should have been granted automatically. For people that qualify for court fee waivers, it is easier (although not on their own, usually), but many people do not qualify for a fee waiver but would still struggle to pay $435 for a court petition. Part of what IAW wants to do is provide middle-income fee assistance, which would help people who don’t qualify for fee waivers but would otherwise struggle to pay the filing fee and other fees that come along later in the process. The amazing nonprofit Trans Lifeline already provides microgrants to people seeking to change their name and/or gender for this purpose, as well, but we’re interested in creating a truly barrier-free experience for our clients.

I want to describe some of the possibilities available to folks in the California courts. First, and I took advantage of this myself, the courts now permit an applicant changing their name and/or gender to also simultaneously apply to have their marriage certificate updated with their new name and “bride/groom/neither bride nor groom” designation. Second, a person who seeks to change their name for any reason other than conforming with their gender identity must still pay for publication in a local newspaper. This extra step can be a significant barrier, especially in smaller counties that have few newspaper options, where the cost can be in the hundreds of dollars. For comparison, the San Francisco Daily Journal costs only $80. However, a person can change their name and not their gender marker and avoid the publication requirement if they check a box stating that the name change is to conform with their gender identity. Third, if an adult applicant is changing their own name, they can also update their name on their child’s or children’s birth certificates, as well as their own.

The court process itself is quite simple. After all the initial documents are drafted and signed, the applicant (or I, for my clients) files the court paperwork, either in-person, or electronically, depending on the county. When the documents are filed, or shortly thereafter, the applicant receives an Order to Show Cause. What this essentially means is that it starts a ticking clock for other people to be able to file objections; if no one files an objection within that timeframe, the judge will sign the final order. Objections on name and gender change petitions cannot be for the purposes of stating that a person does not actually identify has the gender identity they have, so, in practice, objections are practically unheard of. I have certainly never seen one filed against one of my clients. Once the waiting period ends, the judge signs the final order. It is then the applicant’s (or my) responsibility to pick up certified copies of the court order, which are required to provide to government agencies, such as Social Security, the DMV, and for passports and birth certificates.

Court hearings are rare, but not unheard of. Typically, for an applicant changing their name and gender, there is never a hearing and would not be unless someone filed an objection, which almost never happens. If an applicant is changing their name only, most courts still do not require hearings unless an objection is filed, but some do. Orange County is the only California county I’ve found that requires hearings every time for name-change-only applicants.

While I wait for the San Francisco Superior Court to sign my order, which is a prerequisite to much of the rest of the process, I’m beginning work on the endless list of updating my name and email address on the hundreds of various online accounts that I have. My personal email has always included my name, so I created a new Gmail account with my new name! But the reason that most people stay with one email address their entire adult life is because it’s a huge hassle to switch email addresses. I also have a password management software, in which I need to update the email addresses as well. More on this in my next post.

I am about to head on a weeklong retreat without access to phone or email, so I look forward to seeing responses, and writing my next entry, when I return.