Board of Trustees votes to provide comments on name change rule, ask for more New Jersey liaisons for vet diversionary programs

The New Jersey State Bar Association Board of Trustees voted at its Dec. 8 meeting to provide comments to the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) on a proposed rule change that would affect how name changes are handled in court.

The AOC has proposed putting all instances of a child's name change through the Family Division of the courts instead of the Law Division. However, the association's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Section raised concerns that this change would not serve all children, in particular transgender children seeking a name change.

Having to prove to a judge that the change is in the child's best interest imposes an additional burden that could cause stress and increase costs.

“The NJSBA is concerned about an additional burden, and potential anguish, being placed on families where the parents consent to the name change of their child because they would have to meet the Family Part's 'best interest of the child' standard. Just as parents are free to name their child at birth without undergoing a 'best interest' analysis, consenting parents should be free to rename their child without extensive evaluation, so long as it is not for fraudulent or deceitful purposes,” wrote NJSBA President Robert B. Hille. The full comments are available at njsba.com.

Also at the meeting, held at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick, the trustees authorized the association to advocate to federal elected representatives to assign veterans justice outreach liaisons to the courts and jails in New Jersey. These liaisons would help address the needs of veterans who come into contact with the criminal justice system, but may benefit from services and support through veterans' diversionary programs. The association will ask that at least two more liaisons be added to the New Jersey complement.