Philadelphia VIP, with the help of our volunteer attorneys, provides assistance to low-income Philadelphians in a wide variety of civil legal matters including legal name changes and birth certificate corrections. Though some of these clients are parents seeking assistance to correct or change their child’s name as it appears on the child’s birth certificate, the majority of our name change clients are adults seeking to correct or change their name on their own birth certificate so they can obtain government-issued photo identification.
A large number of our clients reach adulthood and learn that the name they have used throughout their lives differs from the name reflected on their birth certificate. By the time our clients learn of the mismatch, most, if not all, of their documentation is in the name they have used and not the name that is shown on their birth certificate. They find themselves in the situation where their Social Security card, utility bills and non-government identification reflects the name they have always believed to be their legal name.
