Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

My real grandfather's lastname is different from mine because my father was adopted and named his children accordingly. Is it OK for me to use my grandfather's surname as an alias in Virginia without going through the formal process of a court granted name change? Not for illegal purposes. Thank you


Asked on 12/21/10, 9:26 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

In my opinion, unless this particular surname is referenced on your

birth certificate, you would need to go through the formal process

of petitioning the circuit court in your locality as you would with

any other name change in order to meet the requirements of Virginia

law to use it as your own.

As far as using this name as a so called "alias", I have no idea

as to what you may have in mind, but whatever it is, likely

would not recommend it.

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Answered on 12/26/10, 10:17 am


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