By Olli Baker (Law Librarian, Rensselaer Supreme Court Law Library)
New York’s Civil Rights Law provides a series of statutes that allow a petitioner to file for a name change (Civil Rights Law art 6). The name change can be for an adult individual, or for an “infant,” defined at law as someone under 18 (CPLR 105(j)). Because an infant (probably more commonly referred to as a minor) cannot as a general rule institute a legal proceeding, an adult has to institute the proceeding for them (CPLR 1201). With name changes this is as a matter of practice usually the parent.
Per section 61 of the statutes, the “petitioner” must make a series of declarations: has the petitioner ever been convicted of a crime, has the petitioner declared bankruptcy, does the petitioner owe spousal or child support, etc. The idea is to make sure the individual in question is not seeking a name change to perpetrate fraud or wiggle their way out of existing responsibilities. With an adult petition the petitioner is simply the individual who wants their name changed. But with an infant name change there are two parties involved: the parent and the infant. Which raises the question: who is the “petitioner” to whom the declarations apply?
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