The Law Court recently returned a decision on the appeal of a name change of a transgender identified individual. The Law Court, in their decision, noted that there was nothing in the record that evidenced fraud on the part of the petitioner and remanded the case back to the Probate Court for further action. The Law Court directed the Probate Court that if the request for name change was denied, again, that the decision be in writing and with details as to the reason for the denial. No action has happened since the decision was published, but it is anticipated that an additional hearing will take place in the near future.

The reason this is interesting for transgender individuals is because some Probate Courts have requested additional information from transgender identified petitioners that are not related to the statute or case law for name changes in the State of Maine. The decision from the Law Court did not address the additional level of scrutiny that has been applied by some Probate Judges to perceived transgender petitioners, but it is anticipated that if the Probate Court denies the name change on the basis of the petitioner’s transgender status, that this will become an issue before the Law Court in the near future.