By Ronda M. Gabb

Legal name consistency is a critical but often overlooked issue in estate planning.

As Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name?” Well, where the law is concerned…a lot! Since the USA PATRIOT Act (Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism – catchy acronym there, right?) was passed in 2001, it’s now more important than ever to have our legal names be consistent. Many people go by nicknames, middles names, or derivatives of their legal names, and it isn’t usually a problem…until it is.

The Junior, III, IV Problem in Successions

Men are the biggest culprits. Why? Most of the time, it is men who are Juniors (Jr.), Thirds (III), Fourth (IV), and so on. News flash, gentlemen, under the law, when your father dies, you don’t “legally” drop the Junior! Junior is almost always on your birth certificate, passport, & driver’s license. If you are John Doe Junior and you have a son who is John Doe the Third, and your father, John Doe “Senior” dies, and then John Doe Jr drops the Junior from his name, then shouldn’t John Doe III step up and become Junior now? Does everyone move up the chain? Of course not! We did a Succession a few years ago & had to A/K/A (also known as) the Succession pleading heading with “John Doe, V, VI, and VII” because this gentleman used every variation of his name when buying property during his very long lifetime.

“Senior” Is Not a Legal Name

Another misconception: “Senior” is not a legal part of your name. You were not born a Senior. Senior is not on your birth certificate, like Junior is. Gentlemen often add “Sr.” to their names when they have a son named “Jr.”, and so it begins. In order to stop this madness, just keep the original name & suffix you are given at birth, and don’t start adding “Senior” to your legal documents!

How the USA PATRIOT Act Affects Powers of Attorney and Banks

So let’s put this into motion…legal John Doe Jr. (on his identification) is named on his wife’s Power of Attorney (POA) simply as “John Doe”. John goes to the bank to use his wife’s POA. The bank asks for his identification, which clearly states “John Doe Jr.”, yet the POA paperwork lists “John Doe”. How does Bank know that this isn’t a son trying to “pose” as his dad? Under the USA PATRIOT Act, the Bank has a legal duty to inquire further & possibly not pass the transaction. This should hold true for title attorneys, OMV (Office of Motor Vehicles), and any other legal depository or institution.

Nicknames, Middle Names, and Financial Accounts

Using nicknames & middle names has the same problems. A nickname will almost never appear on legal identification (unless it’s for very elderly individuals, as the rules were much more relaxed many years ago). We often see both first & middle names on identification, which does help. However, the PATRIOT Act could lead the institution to deny access if the name on the account & the legal identification don’t match. We sometimes see this problem arise when someone dies & their death certificate (which should have the full legal name) shows a different name than the name they used to obtain the life insurance policy or the IRA/401k account. This could cause a substantial delay in paying the death benefit or account balance until the company is certain that its insured and/or account owner is the decedent.

Legal LAW-niappe for Louisiana Women

Ladies, here is a little Legal LAW-niappe (La. R.S. 9:292): Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a woman, at her option, may use her maiden name, her present spouse’s name, or a hyphenated combination thereof. If widowed, divorced, or remarried, a woman may use her maiden name, the surname of her deceased or former spouse, the surname of her present spouse, or any combination thereof.

The Moral of the Story

While you are alive and competent, make sure all of the titles on your assets match your legal name on your identification. Or minimally, have a Notary Public draft a “One and the Same” (A/K/A) Affidavit to tie the names together, which will help you during life and make it easier for your loved ones when you are gone.