A New Jersey judge has ruled in a case of first impression that the best interest of the child standard should apply when a transgender minor is seeking to have his or her name legally changed to more accurately reflect the gender identity.

Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Marcia Silva wrote her opinion in Sacklow v. Betts in March, but it was approved for publication and released on Wednesday.

Silva, in her ruling, said the 16-year-old minor born to a now-divorced couple, Janet Sacklow and Richard Betts, can have her birth name changed from Veronica to Trevor. Trevor has identified as transgender since the age of 12 and currently is undergoing mental and physical therapy that ultimately will result in a transition from female to male.