legal-terms
Do legal documents use the person&#39;s current or former legal name when referring to the past?
<ul>
<li><p>Person was named "A" prior to year 2000.</p></li>
<li><p>The name was legally changed from "A" to "B" in 2000.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>When creating a legal document, is there a standard of how that person will be called when specifically describing past events before 2000? For example,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In the summer of 1998, A (or B?) did XYZ.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>assuming that the lawyer composing the document doesn't do the smart thing and say "Person 'B', formerly known as 'A' before 2000, and hereafter called "Person" in this document" which avoids the issue in the first place.</p>

<p>Best practice would, as you suggested, be something such as "Person 'B', formerly known as 'A' before 2000..." but I don't believe that there is any formal standard for this situation. If the document othewise uses the name 'B', it would be unusual to introduce the prior name 'A' without explanation. If there is not thought to be any significant chance of confusion or mistake, such a document might use 'B' throughout. </p>

<p>It depends on the jurisdiction and what kind of legal document it is. It would be best to investigate whether a jurisdiction has any special procedures for certain kinds of documents.</p>

<p>For example, <a href="https://dmv.ny.gov/address-change/change-your-name-or-non-address-information-dmv-documents" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this page from the New York Department of Motor Vehicles</a> explains what do do if a car owner changes his/her name.</p>

<p>Another example is <a href="https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/27/005/00350" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Vermont law</a> which allows a property owner whose name has changed to record the change in the town records, after which the new name could be used in legal documents related to the property (presumably the new legal documents would call out the recorded name change).</p>
