Changing your name for your safety?

A normal name change is a public record

Court name-change files are public in most states, and the updates that follow (voter registration, DMV, USPS forwarding, bank and employer notices) each connect your new name to your current address in databases that people-search sites collect. That's fine for most people. It is exactly wrong for someone hiding from an abuser.

About 18 states can seal a name change and waive the newspaper-publication requirement for people at risk, and most states run an address-confidentiality program that shields your real address before anything gets filed. The right order matters: an advocate can help you enroll in address confidentiality first, then pursue the sealed change.

Talk to these people first

• National Domestic Violence Hotline

  1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. 24/7, confidential.

• WomensLaw.org

  Plain-language legal information on confidential name changes, state by state, plus an email hotline staffed by legal experts.

• Your state's Address Confidentiality Program ("Safe at Home")

  45 states and DC will give you a substitute mailing address and forward your mail so your real address never enters public records. Advocates recommend enrolling BEFORE filing anything.

• Social Security: new number for abuse victims

  SSA can issue a brand-new Social Security number to people in danger, with corroborating evidence (Publication 05-10093).

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