Opinion
DOCKET NO. CA 16-01100
10-25-2016
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF BRITTANY JEAN STANFORD, PETITIONER-APPELLANT, v. FOR LEAVE TO ASSUME THE NAME OF BENJAMIN ARIK STANFORD.
PRESENT:
Appellant having moved, upon the return of an order to show cause granted by the Honorable John M. Curran, to vacate, modify, and/or set aside an of the Supreme Court entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of Erie on March 10, 2016,
Now, upon reading and filing the affirmation of Laurie Styka Bloom, Esq., dated August 5, 2016, said show cause order,
It is hereby ORDERED that the motion is granted, and the order of Supreme Court entered March 10, 2016, is reversed and the name change petition is granted, and
It is further ORDERED that the matter is remitted to Supreme Court for further proceedings not inconsistent with the following memorandum.
Memorandum: Petitioner is a transgender individual who self-identifies as a male. Petitioner commenced this proceeding seeking to assume the name "Benjamin Arik Stanford," thus leaving petitioner's existing surname intact. Supreme Court denied the petition, and we now reverse.
A court must grant a petition requesting judicial authorization of a name change in the event that the court is "satisfied . . . that the petition is true, and that there is no reasonable objection to the change of name proposed" (Civil Rights Law § 63). "Given the limited power to review such petitions, ‘courts ordinarily grant such petitions by adults unless there is a demonstrable reason not to do so' " (Matter of Anonymous, 106 AD3d 1503, 1503; see Matter of Golden, 56 AD3d 1109, 1110), and we perceive no reason to deny the petition.
Entered: October 25, 2016
Frances E. Cafarell, Clerk