However, would I have to return to the US to petition a court in a US
state for a name change? I don't want to return to the US. Can this be
done by mail, without a personal appearance?

I posted a message about this earlier this year. To recap, I'm an
American expatriate who has no residence in the US, thus no state that
I consider my home. I want to change my name, and some people who
replied said that I would have to do it in the country I reside in
(I'm in Europe). Others thought that maybe California, Texas, or the
last state I resided in (Vermont) might be the places to do it.
However, would I have to return to the US to petition a court in a US
state for a name change? I don't want to return to the US. Can this be
done by mail, without a personal appearance?

Thanks for your advice.

Lehar V. Osvald wrote:
Did you not resolve this matter and proclaim once that the task had been
performed?
I would still contact your former state, vermont and ask them for
assistance.
Or contact the state you wish to move to.
Or check with an American embassy.
Apparently, you've done nothing.

As a practical matter, US states are not going to look behind your assertion
that you are domiciled there. You need not appear in person in many or most
states for a change of name; it's done on the papers. You can use the
address of a friend or lawyer.

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 09:56:12 +0000, Tam <tamsuraiya@yahoo.ca> wrote:
So he can commit perjury, and get away with it.
That's useful advice.

Dan Evans <dan@evans-legal.com> wrote:
Not at all. Domicile, as you well know, reflects intent and the only
requirement to establish domicile in any of the 55 or so US legal
jurisdictions is (1) presence (and that may be unnecessary if it is a
domicile of dependence) and (2) intent to remain "indefinitely".
But as with most things legal, that does not mean what it says in
plain English. You can arrive, then depart with the intent to return
for an indefinite period at some other time.
The case that every American law student studies in Conflicts is In
re Estate of Jones, 192 Iowa 78, 182 N.W. 227 (1921).
http://tinyurl.com/zlwv (PDF file)
Your sarcasm was misplaced. Domicile is easy to establish in the USA,
unlike England, Scotland or Canada. There are thousands of cases
(many relating to tax, voting, divorce and in-state tuition) and a
number of treatises. The US treatise (now dated, but not obsolete in
its definitions) dealing most directly with the subject is Kossuth
Kent Kennan, A Treatise on Residence and Domicil, Rochester, Lawyers
Co-operative Pub., 1934, 981 pages. Most Conflicts hornbooks will
contain enough on the subject for most users: Scoles & Hay for
example.
It is the eseence of US states' law of domicile that it is difficult,
but certainly not impossible, to establish domicile abroad. It is
enough to say that you intend to return to the state where you are now
at such time as you retire. Indeed, it's enough to say that you have
no particular intention to stay in any other place than that US state
in which you are now, and that you have no intention to to stay in the
overseas place where you are employed. (It helps if you have a burial
plot, bank account, church and club membership, family and friends,
vote (if eligible), were born and grew up, etc. in that state. Those
are "badges" of domicile, but scarcely necessary given Constitutional
right of free movement within the USA. A search of findlaw.com's
Supreme Court caselaw should yield more than enough proof.)
One should not look to a newsgroup for legal advice, only for guidance
in formulating questions to present to a lawyer licensed in your
jurisdiction.

Dan Evans <dan@evans-legal.com> wrote in message news:<j9eutvk8qi703o31m8hndn8347ifrave3o@4ax.com>...
Not at all. Domicile, as you well know, reflects intent

On 15 Dec 2003 16:32:35 -0800, lehar@eudoramail.com (Lehar V. Osvald)
wrote:
I can't imagine any state considering a change-of-name petition from
someone is neither a resident nor a citizen, and is not even
physically present in the state.
There is simply no basis for any jurisdiction.

And the original poster made it very clear that he has no intention of
ever returning to the United States.

The rejoinder below purporting to discourse on the law of "domicle" as
interpreted by "Tam" in reponse to Mr. Evans' (completely
well-warranted) comment quoted below is a classic example of
deflective non sequitur (as, in fact, was the comment by "Tam"
responding to the OP, also quoted below, which Mr. Evans criticised).*
The OP who said s/he wants to change his/her name said s/he is an
American expatriate who resides permanently only in Europe, who does
have or maintain any residence anywhere in the U.S., and who does not
consider any state in the U.S. to be his/her residence either
(although s/he mentioned Vt. as the last state in which s/he resided
in the U.S. and also wondered though without explaining why about
Calif. and Texas judicial change-of-name procedures).

As it happens (and as some other respondents have speculated), the
(judicial) change-of-name laws of the three cited states are all based
on residence (not "domicile") in the state.
Though (as is too typical for too many law-related newsgroup
postings/queries) the OP also did not report enough of the facts about
his/her name use and where s/he is located and plans to travel to
enable a genuinely definitive analysis, it might also be noted that it
is at least possible that OP's query as originally posed might be
something of a "trick question", since the OP seemed to presume (as,
apparently if maybe also dubiously, did "Tam") that the OP needed an
order of a court to legitimize the OP's use of the name s/he adopt.
As a matter of law in the three states cited by the OP (as in almost
all other U.S. states and also [U.S.] federally for most purposes),
legislatively authorized judicial "change of name" procedures are
cummulative of a well-established right of common law of any competent
adult permanently resident in the jurisdiction to adopt then
continually exclusively to use any name s/he wishes, provided only
that so doing is not for the purpose (or is not done in circumstances
which that person ought know probably would have the effect) of
defrauding present or future creditors or of infringing upon the
proprietary rights of another or to accomplish some other unlawful
purpose, whereupon (if the "provided only,etc." Stuff doesn't apply to
the person in question) the self-chosen and then
continually/exclusively used "new" name becomes that person's name
(or, if one prefers, "legal name").
And yet the OP did not report any facts (even if,
speculatively/possibly there may be some) which suggested the need (or
even desirability) of resort to any court (anywhere) to accomplish
what s/he wants as, meanwhile, s/he did not report any facts which (as
long as s/he remains an expatriate of the U.S.) make any (U.S.) state
or U.S. federal law relevant to the "What's my name?" aspects of the
OP's life.

Thanks for all the interesting thoughts. Let me give you some
additional details which might make my predicament clearer.
I am in Romania right now, but don't know how long I will stay here
(at least six months, probably). I believe I can get a resident card
to remain in Romania for an extended period of time.
I use the California address of a relative as my official mailing
address for bank accounts and credit cards. The relative forwards me
necessary documents. I also did live in California for a few years in
the 1980s and 90s.
Vermont was the last state I lived in but that was over 3 years ago
and I have no residence there now. My Vermont driver's license has
expired. I mentioned Texas because somebody said it was easy to claim
residence there (George Bush the First having apparently once claimed
residence there based on a hotel room or something)
I do have an intention to return to the US at some point, but do not
know when. Maybe not for years.
My passport will expire in 7 or 8 months and I'd like to use my new
name when I renew the passport.
I am interested in doing this as cheaply as possible.
So, what is the easiest and cheapest solution? Should I change my name
in a Romanian court? Can I file papers in a California court that my
sister can file for me, without my need to return to the US, based on
my intention to return to California at some point in the future and
my use of the relative's address for banking and other purposes? (I
could fill out the papers and sign them here and send them to her)
I need to do this in a way that will be acceptable when I apply for a
passport renewal, and acceptable to social security.
The reasons for changing my name are very personal, but include the
belief that my present name might endanger me during international
travel.