this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2023
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Nah you’re correct, this is the advice my lawyer gave me about name changes.
Good to know, thanks for confirming!
That's really interesting. I always thought it took an appearance in court at least.
I know a person whose middle name was left off their NZ passport but not their British one. It caused an unbelievable bureaucratic nightmare.
"Legally" it's your new name. But in practical terms, that means nothing. You need to get ID documents changed in order to actually do anything.
Basically it means it's legally ok for you to just start going by a different name. But if you want to open a bank account in that name then you'll to get the name added to your birth certificate or other documentation because the bank is not going to just trust you that it's your name.
I wonder how that would play out if you did that with the Police. If they asked for your name and address, you could decide your new name happens to be the name of your flatmate, and give them that. Technically, you haven't lied.
You have to actually use it as your name. If you made it up on the spot, it probably falls under fraud or something similar, so may not be a legal assuming of a new name.
But couldn't this be the first time you're using it? Some time has to be the first time. Especially if you kept using it after that. I know it's ~~convoluted~~ contrived, I just like playing these things out in my head.
This is why I want to find the legislation that backs it up! If the rules are written down then it's easier to find loopholes!
If it's just common law, backed up by precedent, that's a lot less fun.