Tennessee Transgender Teen Can Legally Change Name
- At March 28, 2018
- By Miles Mason
- In Family Law
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Tennessee case summary on a minor’s name change in family law.
The sixteen-year-old minor in this Tennessee case was transgender and was currently undergoing medical transition via hormone therapy from gender female to gender male. Her parents filed a petition to change the child’s name from Leyna Jane to Charlie James, without changing the last name.
The trial court denied the motion on the grounds that there was no valid ground for the change, and that the petitioning parents were seeking to change someone else’s name.
The parents made a motion to reconsider, at which they introduced evidence in the form of letters from a therapist, doctor, and teachers. The trial court again denied the request, and the parents appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The court first noted that the lower court hadn’t really ruled on whether there had been proper grounds for the change. Instead, in denying the motion, the court had ruled that the parents didn’t have grounds to make the petition. But the appeals court pointed out that all persons have the right to change their name at will, as long as it is not done for fraudulent purposes. Therefore, the appeals court reversed the ruling that there hadn’t been an appropriate reason for the change.
It then went on to note that in Tennessee, a minor lacks capacity to bring a lawsuit, but the minor’s parents may do so on the minor’s behalf. In such a case, the primary factor is the child’s best interests.
Since the lower court had used the wrong legal standard, the Court of Appeals reviewed the evidence. It noted that the trial court should have made separate findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of the judgment. Because they were lacking, it reviewed the evidence, which consisted of testimony and letters. After reviewing the evidence, the appeals court determined that the name change should have been granted.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals remanded the case with instructions to grant the petition.
No. M2016-02548-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 15, 2017).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Rights on Naming Your Child in Tennessee.
