Two Greenleaf Name Change Bills Approved by Legislature 

HARRISBURG –A bill to codify the procedure for requesting a court approved name change and a separate measure to change the designation of "district justice" to "magisterial district judge" received legislative approval and await the signature of the Governor.  Both bills are sponsored by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf.

Senate Bill 1032 codifies the process for an individual seeking a name change.  As the result of a 1982 codification of the name change law, the procedural language inadvertently was not included.  Consequently, attorneys and their clients seeking name changes have had to search in the "Historical and Statutory Notes" of Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated for the procedure.  The process for obtaining a name change—which will now be part of the statute-- requires a court petition, proper notice and advertisement, a hearing, and a court decree.  Under an amendment added to the bill, notice requirements may be waived if the court finds that such notice of a proposed name change would jeopardize the life of the applicant or his or her ward or child.  In cases in which notice is waived by the court for safety reasons, the record may be sealed as well and opened only at the applicant's request or based upon a showing of good cause.

Senate Bill 904 would amend the Judicial Code to change the title of district justice to that of magisterial district judge to reflect the fact that district justices serve as judges in magisterial districts.  The name change was recommended by the State Supreme Court and by the Special Court Judges Association of Pennsylvania.