France - Change Your Name (Deed Poll)

Advertisement

Procedure

Anyone can ask to change their last name when they have a legitimate interest. The name change is granted by the Minister of Justice. The procedure requires publication in the Official Journal (OJ) and in a newspaper of legal announcements, the costs of which are borne by the applicant.

How to change your name

1. Prior to the request, you shall arrange for the publication in the Official Journal of the French Republic of an insertion stating your identity, address and, where applicable, those of your minor children concerned and the name or names requested. If remain in France, a publication is, in addition, made in a newspaper designated for the legal announcements of the district where you reside.
2. Create a request and send you application to ministry of justice. The Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, hears the request. To this end, he may request the public prosecutor at the district court of the place of your residence or, you ate in abroad, the competent diplomatic or consular investigation. It collects, as the case may be, the opinion of the Council of State.
3. The court will process your request based on information they have and may or may not grant you the permission to change your name. Your will be investigated by the Ministry of Justice, and 
4. If your request is accepted, a decree with a change of name is published in the Official Journal. A copy (or ampliation) of the decree is sent to you by registered mail with request for acknowledgment of receipt or through the diplomatic or consular channel if you reside abroad.
5. If your request is refused, the refusal must be motivated. It is notified to you by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt or through the diplomatic or consular channel if you reside abroad.
6. The rejection decision may be challenged before the Paris Administrative Court by way of an action for abuse of power, within a period of 2 months from its notification. The use of a lawyer is not mandatory.

You can request for publication “prior notification of change of name” through online in France/Abroad

• Use the following link to make your request
• Fill in all the section with the correct information and submit your request for publication. See information that might help

Note:

• A third party can oppose the name change. This right can no longer be exercised when the decision authorizing the change of name has become final.
• A minimum period of 2 months after the publication of the change of name decree is required to amend the civil status records

If you are a French citizen you can apply to change your name through the process mentioned above or visit the nearest embassy or consulate to make enquires

Advertisement

Required Documents

• Certificate of Criminal Record
• Request Addressed to the Minister of Justice
• Application addressed to the Registrar
• Identity Card (original and photocopy)

Office Locations & Contacts

Official Journal - Request for publication
By e-mail : [email protected]
By letter
DILA, DIRE - OFFICIAL NEWSPAPERS
TSA No. 71641
75901Paris CEDEX 15

Ministry of Justice

France Embassies

Eligibility

The name change request for legitimate reasons concerns:

• name difficult to wear because it can be perceived as ridiculous or pejorative,
• Or name that has been vividly illustrated nationally, if you wear the name of a famous person with a bad name.
  

You can also ask to have another name if you want:

• to avoid the extinction of a surname and used for a long time in your family,
• Devote the constant and continuous use of a name, if you use this other name for a long time and that it identifies you publicly. For example, if you are a doctor known as Dr. Dupont while your passport indicates that your name is Durand,
• if your brothers and sisters have different names and you all want to have the same name (you must have the same father and mother, requests for half-brothers or half-sisters are not allowed),
• Avoid the consequences of the seriousness of the actions for which your father or mother has been sentenced.

Note that; any change of name of the child over the age of thirteen requires his / her personal consent when the change does not result from the establishment or modification of a parentage relationship. However, the establishment or modification of the parent-child relationship only entails the change of the surname of the adult children subject to their consent.

Fees

Publication rights in the OJ and in a local newspaper are your responsibility.

The fixed cost of publication of the advertisement in the Official Journal is 110 € for an advertisement.

The cost of publishing the ad in a local newspaper depends on several criteria (place of residence, age, number of persons per family requesting the change of name).

Validity

• Name are valid until changed, otherwise they are valid forever.

Documents to Use

Application for authorization to change a minor's name for legitimate reason in the event of parents' disagreement Form

Change of name for legitimate reason: find an extract from the Official Journal Tele-service

Publication Template - Name Change for Legitimate Reason Document template

Request for publication in the Official Journal of a prior announcement of a change of name for legitimate reason Tele-service

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

• The deadline for obtaining a decision varies according to the complexity of the request. Count several months
• If you wish to withdraw your application, you must do so in writing within two months of sending the application.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

Your file is instructed by the Seal Department of the Ministry of Justice. This service can ask the public prosecutor to carry out an investigation. The opinion of the Council of State can be requested in case of difficulty.

The file includes the following documents:

• Schedule summarizing all attachments to the file. It indicates your name, your first names, your address and your telephone number, and possibly your email address
• Complete copy of your birth certificate less than 3 months old
• Copy of a document proving that you have French nationality: copy of the national identity card or passport, certificate of French nationality , declaration of acquisition of French nationality or copy of the extension of the naturalization decree
• Bulletin No. 3 of the criminal record
• Personal request on free paper addressed to the Minister of Justice. It must be dated and signed. It must also understand the reasons for abandoning the original name and the reasons for choosing the name requested. If you are proposing several new names to the Minister, you must indicate an order of priority. Any document establishing the validity of this application must be attached to support it (family record, judgments etc.). If you want to use a name in your family, you can provide a family tree with copies of the civil status documents of the people listed in the table. Where these parts exist in only one original, it is possible to provide a copy.
• Print the pdf file of the extract from the authenticated electronic Official Journal + the full page or pages of the legal notice newspaper

The file should be sent directly to the Minister of Justice.

Required Information

• Your name as listed on birth certificate or immigration or citizenship documents.
• The full name you are applying to change to
• Date and place of birth
• Marital status and details
• Places of residence for last three months
• Address for Correspondence

Need for the Document

If you are using, or wish to use, a name other than your registered name, there is no legal requirement that you formally change your name. It is, however, recommended that you change your name officially, both for identification and as evidence of your name change.

Name change generally refers to the legal act by a person of adopting a name different from their name at birth, marriage or adoption. The procedures and ease of a name change vary between jurisdictions.

Information which might help

Publication
The cost of the publication is 110 € per advertisement. The invoice is sent after the publication of the advertisement. It indicates the number and the date of the Official Journal in which the advertisement was published.
The publication time is between 3 and 5 days using the secure web procedure (between 5 and 10 days from receipt of the request for a valid advertisement, if you proceed by email or mail).

• To access and download your name change announcement for free on the Légifrance website : Légifrance website link
  
• Access the summary of the Official Journal by the heading "The last OJ published" or by the section "Search for a JO".
  
• Click at the end of the summary of the OJ sought on "Request name change".
  
• Click on "Access the protected area", located in the middle of the page.
  
• Click on "Extract Authenticated Electronic Official Journal" to download the OJ PDF file.
  

The signature certificate is embedded in the PDF file, so you can legally take advantage of the text once printed.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

You may want to change your name because:

• You have just gotten married
• You have divorced
• You just want a change
• In case of adoption

External Links

• Legifrance
• Public Service
• Wikipedia

Others

Name change application for a minor

You can ask to change the name of your minor children without changing yours. For example, to name it bears his half-brothers and half-sisters.

This request must be made with the consent of the other parent exercising parental authority .

If you disagree with the other parent, you must obtain, prior to the filing of your case, the authorization of minors guardianship judge.

You must also obtain permission from the judge if you have sole custody.