Are Suffixes Part of Legal Name?

[Pedas2]

What is the name of your state?Arizona

When a person's name on their birth certificate is hypothetically Candy Apple Red II, how critical legally is the II suffix for use on a driver's license or for voting ID? The person's Social Security Card issued at birth also states Candy Apple Red II. Colloquially, Candy has always been referred to as Candy or Candy Jr. to differentiate her from her mother in a conversation. If Candy Apple Red II were to apply for a driver's license or register to vote and non-intentionally or carelessly either omit the "II" or replace "II" with "Jr" on the application and a DL or voter ID card was issued that omitted "II" or had "Jr" instead, would that be a felony? Assuming the aforementioned government agencies have Candy's correct Social Security Number that she provided on the application, would the removal or change in suffix become irrelevant?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state?Arizona

When a person's name on their birth certificate is hypothetically Candy Apple Red II, how critical legally is the II suffix for use on a driver's license or for voting ID? The person's Social Security Card issued at birth also states Candy Apple Red II. Colloquially, Candy has always been referred to as Candy or Candy Jr. to differentiate her from her mother in a conversation. If Candy Apple Red II were to apply for a driver's license or register to vote and non-intentionally or carelessly either omit the "II" or replace "II" with "Jr" on the application and a DL or voter ID card was issued that omitted "II" or had "Jr" instead, would that be a felony? Assuming the aforementioned government agencies have Candy's correct Social Security Number that she provided on the application, would the removal or change in suffix become irrelevant?

A suffix is definitely part of someone's legal name and should be included on a driver's license. I don't see any way that someone could avoid including it on a DL, state ID or voter's registration, therefore in my opinion the issue of whether or not it would be a felony is moot

 

[FlyingRon]

The suffix, as it is stated on your birth certificate (or subsequent document of a name change such as a marriage certificate or court order) is part of your name. As stated. I'm a Jr. I have to put it on every thing. I have to use Jr., not II, or anything else. It is part of my complete name. The only fun part is where it goes if someone insists on breaking up my name into parts. Some people, like the State Department, consider it part of my Last Name. Some have a separate field for suffix. Some like the military, stick it at the end of everythign: LastName, FirstName MiddleName, Jr.

As for "felony voter fraud" at under either Federal or Arizona law, giving a variation of your name is not illegal unless you do so in attempt to vote when you would not otherwise be permitted to.

 

[zddoodah]

When a person's name on their birth certificate is hypothetically Candy Apple Red II, how critical legally is the II suffix for use on a driver's license or for voting ID?

Please explain what you mean by "critical legally" and what a "voting ID" is.

If Candy Apple Red II were to apply for a driver's license or register to vote and non-intentionally or carelessly either omit the "II" or replace "II" with "Jr" on the application and a DL or voter ID card was issued that omitted "II" or had "Jr" instead, would that be a felony?

No.

Assuming the aforementioned government agencies have Candy's correct Social Security Number that she provided on the application, would the removal or change in suffix become irrelevant?

There are no "aforementioned government agencies" in your post. That said, irrelevant to what?

Over the past 20 years that I've posted on legal message boards, I've seen scores of posts in which folks have related problems resulting from name confusion issues identical or similar to the one you described. Anyone saddled with a "Jr." or an "nth" suffix should take great care to be uniform on all documents that might impact their lives in a legal or financial sense.

 

[Pedas2]

The suffix, as it is stated on your birth certificate (or subsequent document of a name change such as a marriage certificate or court order) is part of your name. As stated. I'm a Jr. I have to put it on every thing. I have to use Jr., not II, or anything else. It is part of my complete name. The only fun part is where it goes if someone insists on breaking up my name into parts. Some people, like the State Department, consider it part of my Last Name. Some have a separate field for suffix. Some like the military, stick it at the end of everythign: LastName, FirstName MiddleName, Jr.

As for "felony voter fraud" at under either Federal or Arizona law, giving a variation of your name is not illegal unless you do so in attempt to vote when you would not otherwise be permitted to.

In Arizona,

A.R.S. 16-183 states "A county recorder, justice of the peace or other person who is authorized to accept registration forms and who knowingly disregards any provision of this chapter, or a person who knowingly registers more than once, or registers under any name other than his true name, or attempts to vote by personating another who is registered, or knowingly registers in a precinct where he is not a resident at the time of the registration is guilty of a class 6 felony unless another classification is specifically prescribed in this chapter."

Hence my question about suffixes.

 

[Zigner]

In Arizona,

A.R.S. 16-183 states "A county recorder, justice of the peace or other person who is authorized to accept registration forms and who knowingly disregards any provision of this chapter, or a person who knowingly registers more than once, or registers under any name other than his true name, or attempts to vote by personating another who is registered, or knowingly registers in a precinct where he is not a resident at the time of the registration is guilty of a class 6 felony unless another classification is specifically prescribed in this chapter."

Hence my question about suffixes.

Your question doesn't make sense insofar as the law is concerned. One must register with their true name. The "nickname" one uses is not their true name.
My name is William Smith, Jr. (it's not) and is on my birth certificate as such. I'm on a LOT of corporate documents as Bill Smith. My mom calls me Billy. The childhood bully called me "Wee Willy", my ex calls me "jerk", and my uncle calls me J.R. (not "Junior", actually "J.R.") What name do you think I should use when I register to vote?

 

[Pedas2]

Please explain what you mean by "critical legally" and what a "voting ID" is.




No.



There are no "aforementioned government agencies" in your post. That said, irrelevant to what?

Over the past 20 years that I've posted on legal message boards, I've seen scores of posts in which folks have related problems resulting from name confusion issues identical or similar to the one you described. Anyone saddled with a "Jr." or an "nth" suffix should take great care to be uniform on all documents that might impact their lives in a legal or financial sense.

"Critical legally" in the sense of being prosecuted for a felony for giving a false name. "Voting ID" meaning a card issued by the county that has your name, address, party affiliation, precinct info, etc. on it .

"Aforementioned government agencies" meaning a motor vehicle department or county elections department. If both of those agencies have a person's social security number that contains the correct suffix and it matches the birth certificate, then is it moot legally if the applicant omits the suffix or puts "Jr" instead of "II" on the application?

A.R.S. 16-183 seems pretty strict. However, do you think that no reasonable prosecutor would believe they would secure a conviction over a missing or different suffix?

You're right, a suffix can be a hassle. When Candy Apple Red (mother) writes in her legal will that she bequests all the assets of a specific bank account number to Candy Apple Red II (her daughter) upon her death, and when Candy Apple Red II goes to the bank and presents the legal will and the bank officer asks for ID, and Candy Apple II's state ID has an omitted suffix, will she be denied the assets of the account and then the bank account turned over to the state?

 

[Just Blue]

Your question doesn't make sense insofar as the law is concerned. One must register with their true name. The "nickname" one uses is not their true name.
My name is William Smith, Jr. (it's not) and is on my birth certificate as such. I'm on a LOT of corporate documents as Bill Smith. My mom calls me Billy. The childhood bully called me "Wee Willy", my ex calls me "jerk", and my uncle calls me J.R. (not "Junior", actually "J.R.") What name do you think I should use when I register to vote?

Wee Willy?

 

[Pedas2]

Your question doesn't make sense insofar as the law is concerned. One must register with their true name. The "nickname" one uses is not their true name.
My name is William Smith, Jr. (it's not) and is on my birth certificate as such. I'm on a LOT of corporate documents as Bill Smith. My mom calls me Billy. The childhood bully called me "Wee Willy", my ex calls me "jerk", and my uncle calls me J.R. (not "Junior", actually "J.R.") What name do you think I should use when I register to vote?

Are there a lot of people with the first names of Michael, Samantha, Thomas, Mohammed, etc.. being convicted of felonies for putting Mike, Sam, Tom, and Mo for their first names on government documents?

 

[Zigner]

Are there a lot of people with the first names of Michael, Samantha, Thomas, Mohammed, etc.. being convicted of felonies for putting Mike, Sam, Tom, and Mo for their first names on government documents?

I don't know - why don't you go search every case in Arizona to find out? This is, after all, YOUR hypothetical situation.

 

[zddoodah]

"Voting ID" meaning a card issued by the county that has your name, address, party affiliation, precinct info, etc. on it .

Do they do that in Arizona? I'm not a voting law expert and studied very little about this in my constitutional law classes, but I would have thought any requirement that someone have a voter ID card would be unconstitutional. Anyway...

A.R.S. 16-183 seems pretty strict. However, do you think that no reasonable prosecutor would believe they would secure a conviction over a missing or different suffix?

Yes. The word "knowingly" in the statute is directly at odds with the reference in your original post to a person doing the acts mentioned "non-intentionally or carelessly."

When Candy Apple Red (mother) writes in her legal will that she bequests all the assets of a specific bank account number to Candy Apple Red II (her daughter) upon her death, and when Candy Apple Red II goes to the bank and presents the legal will and the bank officer asks for ID, and Candy Apple II's state ID has an omitted suffix, will she be denied the assets of the account and then the bank account turned over to the state?

She'll be denied the assets, but not for that reason. One cannot simply walk into a bank with a dead person's will (and a death certificate) and expect to receive the money in the dead person's accounts, unless the dead owner of the accounts had designated the other person as the pay-on-death beneficiary of the accounts (in which case, the will would be completely irrelevant). Banks do not determine a person's entitlement to funds in a deposit account based solely on a will. If there's no beneficiary designation, the bank would want an order of the probate court (or compliance with the small estate procedure, which I assume Arizona has as part of its probate law). Intelligently predicting how the personnel at a hypothetical bank will react to "Candy Apple Red II" being entitled to money but producing an ID that omits the "II" is impossible to do.

 

[Pedas2]

Your question doesn't make sense insofar as the law is concerned. One must register with their true name. The "nickname" one uses is not their true name.
My name is William Smith, Jr. (it's not) and is on my birth certificate as such. I'm on a LOT of corporate documents as Bill Smith. My mom calls me Billy. The childhood bully called me "Wee Willy", my ex calls me "jerk", and my uncle calls me J.R. (not "Junior", actually "J.R.") What name do you think I should use when I register to vote?

I don't know - why don't you go search every case in Arizona to find out? This is, after all, YOUR hypothetical situation.

Don't need to.

https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-tosses-georgias-exact-match-voter-id-rule-for-midterm/

Highly doubt those individuals with mis-matched names wouldn't have been prosecuted for a felony.

 

[Zigner]

Don't need to.

https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-tosses-georgias-exact-match-voter-id-rule-for-midterm/

Highly doubt those individuals with mis-matched names wouldn't have been prosecuted for a felony.

Huh?

ETA: What does that have to do with your question?

 

[Pedas2]

Do they do that in Arizona? I'm not a voting law expert and studied very little about this in my constitutional law classes, but I would have thought any requirement that someone have a voter ID card would be unconstitutional. Anyway...



Yes. The word "knowingly" in the statute is directly at odds with the reference in your original post to a person doing the acts mentioned "non-intentionally or carelessly."



She'll be denied the assets, but not for that reason. One cannot simply walk into a bank with a dead person's will (and a death certificate) and expect to receive the money in the dead person's accounts, unless the dead owner of the accounts had designated the other person as the pay-on-death beneficiary of the accounts (in which case, the will would be completely irrelevant). Banks do not determine a person's entitlement to funds in a deposit account based solely on a will. If there's no beneficiary designation, the bank would want an order of the probate court (or compliance with the small estate procedure, which I assume Arizona has as part of its probate law). Intelligently predicting how the personnel at a hypothetical bank will react to "Candy Apple Red II" being entitled to money but producing an ID that omits the "II" is impossible to do.

Huh?

ETA: What does that have to do with your question?

Article was very clear relative to my original question.

 

[Zigner]

Article was very clear relative to my original question.

No, it really wasn't.

I would suggest that you take the time to research Arizona cases, as I advised previously. Continued discussion here is pointless, as your matter is purely hypothetical, and you've already changed the parameters of the discussion.