Last name/sur name change - procedure, andhra pradesh, india

respected querist ,

no one can force or deprive any person from follwing rituals and customs of any religion,every person is free to adopt and follow any religion and so as you too.direct application for the publication in official gazzete can not be accepted due to some legal hurdles depending upon the various issues and complication regarding the matter.you have to first file a suit for declaration in the court for this stating the fact and issues of your life style that you are brought up with hindu customs and follow hindu religion and you want to change your surname ,after eveidences court will make orders for the publication in the official gazette or in any daily newpaper having circulation in your area and giving notice period for filing objection if anyone have.after completing the notice period without any objection court will pass the order for your change in surname and there is no office which can deny the court orders in india.feel free to call on my number if you have left any query.

Hi Anish,

Thank you so much for your prompt response. I have the following questions. I really appreciate your time in this matter.

1) Do we need to hire a lawyer to file a suit for declartion in the court? If yes, what kind of lawyer can best assist us?

2)  I am from a city called vijawayawada. Which court (Municipal, Civil, Highcourt) should we file the suit with? Could it be a local court in the city?

3) What kind of evidence would the court require?

4) If the court accepts our case, do we still need to publish our name in the official gazette?

5) We are in our middle ages now. I am going to be 35 soon and my sister is 33.  My father(muslim) has passed way in 2009. My mother(hindu) and my uncle(mother's brother) have no objections doing this.

So who else can object this process and why does it matter for the court if anyone else objects this?

6) How long will it take to get a court order?

7) How much is it going to cost us for the entire process?

8) Can't we just use the court order as an official document and use that to change our names in our passports, school certs and etc?

9) With so much red tape and corruption going on in the government and the judicial system, can this be a straghtforward process or do we have to be ready for any hurdles?

Thank you again for your time.

dear querist,

you have to file this suit in the civil judge court  at divisonal level ,yes it will be your local court .primary evidence will be of your mother ,any close family friend or relative . notice period for filing a objection is a legal process so you must have to follow that,its not compulsory to make publication in official gazette as it is a time long process,you can publish in any newspaper or magazine which have local circulation in your area.it can take upto 4-6 months depending upon the burden of the court.usually consultancy fees for this is the main expenditure .yes you can use court order to make correction in every document.its a simple process if you follows the step by step procedure in time and follow the required guideline in time.send us your postal address and contact info in mail id advocate_anish@imap.cc so that we can farward you the guideline for it.

Hi Anish,

I have an update. My matrimonial uncle(mother's brother) has adopted me and my sister for 

this purpose and got registered in the sub-registrar Office.

He was saying that it will take another 10 - 15 days to get this published in the state government official gazette.

Can you please advise what other things i need to do after this?