Halligan, Application of
| Decision Date | 05 December 1974 |
| Citation | 46 A.D.2d 170,361 N.Y.S.2d 458 |
| Parties | Application of Sara Ryan HALLIGAN. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Anthony J. Villani, Palmyra, for appellant (James F. Foley, III, Palmyra, of counsel).
Before MOULE, J.P., and SIMONS, MAHONEY, GOLDMAN and DEL VECCHIO, JJ.
When petitioner was born in 1948, her parents named her Sara Ryan. Since then she has continuously identified herself by that name, for Social Security purposes, when dealing with the Internal Revenue Service, when executing Higher Education Loan Applications, for bank accounts and other legal documents. The one exception to this practice had been her application for a passport and on that occasion the U.S. Passport Officials insisted that she use her married name, Halligan. Wishing no repetition of that incident she brought a proceeding pursuant to Article 6 of the Civil Rights Law seeking an order establishing beyond peradventure that her legal name is Sara Ryan.
Supreme Court, nothing the confusion that would result if a husband and wife were known by different names, held that since petitioner had 'failed to set forth any compelling reason for seeking a court-approved name change', the application must be denied (Matter of Halligan, 76 Misc.2d 190, 350 N.Y.S.2d 63). We think denial of the application was an improvident exercise of the court's discretion.
Under the common law a person may change his or her name at will so long as there is no fraud, misrepresentation or interference with the rights of others (Smith v. United States Casualty Company, 197 N.Y. 420, 428--429, 90 N.E. 947; Matter of Wing, 4 Misc.2d 840, 157 N.Y.S.2d 333). The statute affirms this right and the two procedures exist side by side supplementing each other (Smith v. United States Casualty Company, supra). Under common law the change is accomplished by usage or habit. When the statutory procedure is followed, a court order and public record verify the change. The statutory procedure differs only in the speed and certainty of the change and in the restriction that once the name is changed the applicant shall thereafter be known 'by no other name' except with the permission of the court (Civil Rights Law, § 64).
Section 63 of the Civil Rights Law provides that upon presentation of an application for a name change if the court shall determine that the petition is true and that there is 'no reasonable objection' to the change, it 'shall make an order' granting the petition. In exercising this limited power of review, 1 the court should bear in mind that an individual possesses a broad right to assume a new name at common law and in most instances denial of the application will accomplish little except delay the change and add to the confusion of records until a new name is established by usage. a court may properly assume that most petitions by adults should be granted until the contrary appears, particularly when, as here, the change is unopposed by interested third...
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