How we verify every step
Every government-process step we publish is sourced to an official .gov page and carries a last-verified date. We publish a state's rules only when we've verified them; otherwise we route you to the official source rather than guess. Our steps are a deterministic projection of those verified rulesets — not AI-generated legal advice — and we are not a law firm or a government agency.
Built and maintained by Matt McAllister, founder of NameChangePacket — who's behind this.
How do we verify our guidance?
A new site has to earn trust, so here's exactly how our steps are built and checked.
Every step is sourced to an official .gov page
We don't write procedure from memory. Each government-process step is tied to an official source — SSA.gov, travel.state.gov, DHS/TSA, or a state DMV — and the page links to it so you can confirm the current rule at the source.
Each step carries a last-verified date
Government rules and fees change. Every ruleset records the date we last checked it against the official page, and we show that date on the page. If a figure isn't dated, it isn't ours.
Fail-closed: verified states only
We publish a state's specific rules only when we've verified them against that state's own pages. Until then, the page routes you to the official source and does not assert a rule. We never fabricate a procedure to fill a gap.
Deterministic, not AI-generated legal advice
The steps are a deterministic projection of verified rulesets — one source of truth drives the visible text, the ordered steps, and the structured data, so they can't contradict each other. We don't ask a language model to invent legal guidance.
Court matters go to the court
A name that doesn't come from a marriage or divorce is a court-ordered change, and the procedure varies by county and state. We don't publish a per-state court procedure — we route you to your county or circuit court and, where it matters, suggest an attorney.
Not legal advice, not a government service
We're an independent service that organizes and sequences your name change. We're not a law firm, not a government agency, and not affiliated with one. The forms are always free; what you pay for is the order, the accuracy, and the support.
The federal sources behind our steps
The Social Security, passport, and REAL ID steps are the same for everyone, so they come from these federal pages. State DMV steps come from each state's own pages and are published only when verified.
Federal sources we verify against
Every step is backed by an official government page — confirm the current rules on the source before you act.
- https://www.ssa.gov/life-events/change-name
- https://www.ssa.gov/faqs/en/questions/KA-01981.html
- https://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/ss5doc.htm
- https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf
- https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10513.pdf
- https://travel.state.gov/en/passports/renew-replace/change-correct-passport.html
- https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/change-correct.html
- https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/renew.html
- https://travel.state.gov/en/passports/apply/help/forms.html
- https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-frequently-asked-questions
- https://www.tsa.gov/realid/realid-faqs
- https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification
See your exact steps free
Answer a few quick questions and we'll tell you what to do first, second, and third for your exact situation — each step linked to the real .gov page. No account, no card.
Frequently asked questions
- Where do your steps come from?
- Every government-process step is sourced from an official .gov page — SSA.gov, travel.state.gov, DHS/TSA, and state DMV sites. Each step links to its source so you can confirm the current rule yourself, and each carries the date we last verified it against that page.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. NameChangePacket is an independent service that organizes and sequences a name change. It is not legal advice, not a government service, and not affiliated with any government agency. For a court-ordered legal name change, consult your county court or an attorney.
- What is your fail-closed policy?
- We publish a state's rules only when we've verified them against that state's own pages. If we haven't verified a state, we don't guess — we route you to the official source instead and don't assert a rule. We'd rather show you less than show you something we can't stand behind.
- Are your steps AI-generated?
- No. The procedural facts are deterministic projections of verified, .gov-sourced rulesets — the same source data renders the page, the steps, and the structured data, so they can't drift apart. We don't generate legal guidance from a language model.
- How do I know your information is current?
- Each ruleset carries a last-verified date that we surface on the page. Government rules and fees change, so we date everything and link the source — always confirm against the official page before you act.
Not legal advice · Not a government service · Not affiliated with any government agency.