You may want to change a legal name on a lease agreement and this can be accomplished without too much trouble. A lease, like other contracts, quite often need to be amended to best represent the interests of the parties involved. Leases are written contracts that require action by both parties and as such, when a legal change is made to a lease, the change must be in writing and the document must be signed by both parties.

Things You Will Need

  • Original lease document

  • Lease amendment

Review your lease agreement and see if it includes any provisions for making changes to it. Though your state may allow oral changes to a lease agreement, it is best to make all changes in writing. Some leases may declare that the lease agreement represents the entire contract between the parties involved.

Put any changes to a lease agreement in writing--including alterations to legal names. You can obtain a lease amendment (they can be found online) or simply create your own lease amendment by including statements that clearly state the changes you would like to make to the original lease. For example: "Lease is hereby amended by deleting the name "Chuck Anderson"--the lessee, and replacing it with the legal name "Charles Anderson" in all instances where the former name appears in the original lease."

Sign and date your lease amendment and have the other party(ies) do the same. To make the lease agreement alterations legally binding, the changes must be in writing and agreed upon by including the signatures of all parties involved.

Keep the copy of the lease amendment with the original lease agreement.

Tip

You may want to encourage other parties to the lease to also keep a copy of the lease amendment with the original lease.

Warning

Though oral changes to a lease may be easily obtained, it is best to get changes in writing to secure your legal right to them. When contract disputes go to court written agreements always override any oral agreements.