When a constituent of Chester County wishes to change their own name or the name(s) of a minor(s) as the child(ren)'s parent or legal guardian, that person must petition the Court in order to do so. Then, a
Name Search of property records from five years ago to date is required as a part of this process. Our office is one of three departments that will conduct a Name Search within its respective databases, and the constituent seeking a name change must contact us in advance of the Hearing Date to request that the search be conducted.
Thanks to a group of thoughtful Recorder of Deeds all-stars, we have recently updated the Intake Form which our staff uses to gather initial information about a Name Search. A new field has been added to this form that is meant to indicate what the petitioner's name is being changed to, or the new name. We hope that this will prevent any potential deadnaming. (Deadnaming is the act of referring to someone by their birth-given name rather than their transitioned name.) On the day of the hearing, before going to the court, the petitioner or their representative stops by our office to pick up and pay for the Name Search Certificate, or results sheet. Upon pickup, our staff needs to know the most respectful, appropriate and current way to address the petitioner in person. However, upon filing the request with us, the petitioner is not required to give us the name they are transitioning to if they are not comfortable doing so. When filling in this new field over the phone, for example, our staff will now ask, “Would you like to provide us with the new name you are acquiring, for reference purposes," at which point the customer can decline. If provided, however, the staff member will notate this in regards to pickup.
These subtle yet important changes to our internal process and procedure align with Chester County’s ongoing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) efforts and will allow us to better assist these customers in a more compassionate and sensitive manner. Thank you to ROD team members Marc, Nick and Rob for their conscientiousness of how we could improve our quality of customer service in this manner. You can view a sample of the revised Name Search Intake Form with the new field highlighted below.
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