Name Change Petition

A name change application is made to the superior court of the county where the person resides, by petition signed by the person (or for a minor, as the section provides);

Applications for change of names must be determined by the superior courts. Read it with sections 1276 to 1279.6 for venue, contents, notice and hearing.

On the petition the court makes an order to show cause setting a hearing 6 to 12 weeks out, requiring written objections at least two court days before the hearing and stating the petition may be granted without a…

Official form page for NC-100, used to start a case to change the petitioner's name, a minor child's name or both, with the current effective date shown on the page;

Official form page for NC-120, the order to show cause that states the requested name change, lists where it will be published and is used by the court to set the hearing, with the effective date shown on the page.

Publication under this section is once a week for four successive weeks, with four publications in a newspaper published weekly or more often, at least five days apart, sufficing;

The petition is heard at the designated time only if objections showing good cause are filed; at a hearing the court may examine petitioners and objectors under oath and grant or dismiss the petition;

The title does not abrogate the common-law right to change one's name, except that a person in state prison or county jail must give a copy of the petition to the department or sheriff, and a court must deny a petition…

Official form page for NC-110, the attachment that gives the court information about each person whose name is to be changed and is always attached to NC-100 before filing, with the current effective date shown on the…

Official form page for NC-130, the decree that states the court's decision on the name change, with the current effective date shown on the page. Prepare it as the proposed order.

Official Connecticut probate form for an adult's name change petition, filed in the probate district where the petitioner resides with the PC-910 affidavit, a certified long-form birth certificate, two forms of…

Official Connecticut probate affidavit filed with the adult petition PC-901, in which the petitioner swears to residence and its length in Connecticut, any real estate owned, that no debts are in arrears and creditors…

Connecticut text giving the courts of probate jurisdiction concurrent with the Superior Court under section 52-11 to grant a change of name, except a name restored under 46b-63(a) on dissolution.

The court may restore a party's birth or former name at the decree. Ask the client; it is far easier to include than to obtain later.

Connecticut text giving the Superior Court in each judicial district jurisdiction over complaints for a change of name by any person residing in the district, after which the complainant is known by the name the decree…

Connecticut text: on receipt of a certified copy of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction changing the name of a person born in Connecticut, and on request of the person or the person's parents, guardian or…

Official Court of Common Pleas packet: the petition and supporting documents are filed in the Court of Common Pleas of the county of residence with a notarized Affidavit of Petitioner, a birth certificate, photo…

Delaware text that a person seeking a name change presents a verified petition to the Court of Common Pleas in the county of residence stating the current and desired names, while the Family Court handles name changes…

Delaware text that on a name change petition, where the chapter's requirements have been met and no reason appears for denying it, the petition may be granted;

Delaware text: a sex offender required to register who thereafter changes the offender's own name, residence address or place of employment or study must reregister with the Delaware State Police by appearing in person…

Delaware text that the petitioner pays the costs of a name change proceeding under chapter 59. Confirm the current filing fee with the Court of Common Pleas. This source alone does not establish the amount of any fee.

Restoration of a former name at the decree. Ask the client; far easier to include than to obtain later.

D.C. text: the Registrar establishes a new record of live birth reflecting a new gender designation and, if applicable, a new name for an individual born in the District on a sworn request, a licensed healthcare…

D.C. text: a District resident desiring a change of name may file an application in the Superior Court setting forth the reasons and the name to be assumed, and an infant's application is filed by a parent, guardian or…

D.C. text: upon a showing the court deems satisfactory, the court may change the applicant's name as requested;

On divorce from the bond of marriage the court shall, on the request of a party who assumed a new name on marriage and wishes to discontinue using it, state in the decree of divorce either the birth-given name or…

D.C. text listing a registered sex offender's duties during the registration period, in the time and manner the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency specifies: register, provide the information required for…

D.C. text: on receipt of a certified copy of a court order changing the name of an individual born in the District, and on request of the individual, a legal representative or a minor's parent or guardian, the Registrar…

Official Florida Supreme Court approved family law form for an adult's petition for change of name, whose instructions state that it is not used for a name change in a dissolution or adoption case, must be signed before…

Official Florida Supreme Court approved final judgment on an adult's petition for change of name under section 68.07, in which the court finds that the petitioner is a bona fide county resident, that the request is not…

Florida text: except as provided in the sexual predator and offender registration statutes, a person who, after applying for or receiving a driver license or identification card, changes his or her legal name must…

Florida text giving the courts jurisdiction to change the name of any person residing in the state on a petition filed in the county of residence;

Florida text on sexual offender registration: within 48 hours after a change in the offender's name by reason of marriage or other legal process, the sexual offender must report in person to a driver license office (or,…

Florida text on sexual predator registration: within 48 hours after a change in the sexual predator's name by reason of marriage or other legal process, the predator must report in person to a driver license office, or…

Official Maryland circuit court petition (Rev. 08/2025) for an adult's change of name under Rule 15-901: venue basis, birth name and later names, the name requested and reasons, sex offender registration status, and a…

Maryland text on sex offender registration: a registrant who is granted a legal change of name by a court must send written notice of the change to each local law enforcement unit where the registrant resides or…

Maryland text: an individual who has applied for or obtained a driver's license and whose name is changed under the common law, by marriage or by court order must, within 30 days of the change, notify the Motor Vehicle…

In granting an absolute divorce, or on a motion filed within eighteen months after the final decree, the court shall change the name of a requesting party to the birth name or any other former name the party wishes to…

Maryland rule (as amended effective July 1, 2026) for name changes other than by adoption, divorce or gender-identity declaration: an adult files in the county of residence, business, employment, vocation or birth;

Maryland text: except as provided in § 4-211(f), on receipt of a court order that changes the name of an individual born in Maryland and on request of the individual or a parent, guardian or legal representative, the…

Official Massachusetts petition under G.L. c. 210, § 12 (CJP 27, 12/11/25 revision): the petitioner states current legal name, birth details, residence in the county of filing, prior name changes and aliases, the…

Massachusetts text that a petition to change a person's name may be heard by the probate court in the county where the petitioner resides, and that the change shall be granted unless it is inconsistent with public…

Massachusetts text, printed in two versions: as amended by St. 2025, c. 73, § 53 effective November 25, 2025, the court must request a probation report on the petitioner before decreeing a change, may require public…

Massachusetts text that the court granting a divorce may allow a woman to resume her maiden name or that of a former husband. The section is one sentence and states no procedure.

Massachusetts text that each register of probate makes an annual return in December to the commissioner of public health and the commissioner of probation of all changes of name made in the court.

Massachusetts text, printed in two versions (before and after the 2025 amendment effective July 1, 2025): a person who requests a change of sex designation on a birth record may also request a change of name on it, or…

No action or other legal proceeding commenced in the former name against a person whose name has been changed under the chapter is abated, and no relief sought in it is prevented, by reason of the misnomer.

Any person may bring an action in the Superior Court for authority to assume another name;

From the day the judgment specifies, the person is known by the name the judgment authorizes and by no other;

On receipt of a certified copy of a judgment permitting a change of name, or a naturalization certification showing a court-ordered change, together with a request for correction, the State Registrar or local registrar…

New Jersey text (P.L.2025, c.72): after March 1, 2026, an individual, corporation or other non-public entity required by law or by the order or rule of any court to publish a legal notice must publish it on an online…

On or after granting a divorce or dissolution of a civil union, the court may allow either spouse or partner to resume any name used before the marriage or civil union, or to assume any surname.

A resident of New York may petition for leave to assume another name in the county court or the Supreme Court of the county of residence or, for a New York City resident, in the Supreme Court or any branch of the Civil…

The petition must be in writing, signed and verified like a pleading, and state the grounds, the name, date and place of birth, age and residence of the person, and the proposed name;

Notice is required for an infant's petition (to the parents and guardians) and, at least sixty days before the hearing unless shortened, for a petitioner confined or under supervision for listed felonies (to the…

A person may assume a new name on marriage under Domestic Relations Law § 15(1)(b) or resume a former surname or middle name on divorce or annulment under § 240-a, with the effect stated in § 64;

Once the order is entered the petitioner is known by the new name, and a parent's changed surname may be assumed by a minor child;

A final judgment of divorce or annulment must, on the application of a party, contain a provision that each party may resume the use of a pre-marriage surname or any other former surname.

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard probate form for an adult's application for change of name under R.C.

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard affidavit in support of an adult's change of name under R.C.

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard judgment entry changing an adult's name under R.C.

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard notice of hearing on an application for change of name under R.C.

Ohio text requiring an application for a change of name to set forth that the applicant has been a bona fide resident of the county for at least sixty days before filing, the reason for the change, and the requested new…

Ohio text providing that, except as section 2717.16 provides, the court may order the change of name on proof that the facts in the application show reasonable and proper cause for changing the applicant's name and, if…

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard release by which a person applying to change or conform a name authorizes the probate court and its agents to examine the applicant's criminal record and releases law enforcement…

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard application under R.C. 2717.11 asking the court to waive the publication requirement and seal the file because publication would jeopardize the applicant's personal safety, with…

Ohio definitions for the name change chapter: application, applicant, conform (making a legal name consistent in all official identity documents by correcting a misspelling, inconsistency or other error), and official…

Ohio text allowing a person who wants to change the person's name to file an application in the probate court of the county in which the person resides.

Apart from an informal change used consistently, nonfraudulently and exclusively, a person may assume a different name only through a petition in the court of common pleas of the county of residence stating the…

The court of common pleas may change the name of any county resident; before approval the court forwards the application and the person's fingerprints, at the person's cost, to the Pennsylvania State Police, who check…

Pennsylvania text on sexual offender registration: in addition to periodic appearances, a registrant must appear in person at an approved registration site within three business days to provide current information on a…

Pennsylvania text (Newspaper Advertising Act): no legal proceeding in which notice must be given by official or legal advertising is binding and effective on an interested person unless the advertising is published in…

A party to a divorce action may, before or after the decree, resume any prior surname by filing a written notice with the prothonotary of the county where the action was filed or the decree entered, showing the caption…

Any person violating the chapter for the purpose of avoiding payment of taxes or other debts commits a summary offense. Read it with the official search for judgments and decrees required under section 701.

Texas text requiring an adult's name change petition to be verified and to include the present name and residence, the full name requested, the reason for the change, whether the petitioner has a final felony conviction…

Texas text requiring the court to order a change of name for a person without a final felony conviction or sex offender registration duty if the change is in the interest or to the benefit of the petitioner and in the…

Texas text: on final disposition of a suit for divorce, annulment or to declare a marriage void, the court must enter a decree changing the name of a party specially praying for a change to a prior used name unless the…

Texas text allowing a party to a name change suit to waive issuance or service of citation after the suit is filed by filing a waiver acknowledging receipt of the filed petition;

Texas text: in a decree of divorce or annulment the court must change the name of a party specifically requesting a change to a name previously used unless the decree states a reason for denying it, may not deny it…

Texas text: a person subject to sex offender registration must report any change in name to the primary registration authority not later than the later of the seventh day after the change or the first date the authority…

Texas text allowing an adult to file a petition requesting a change of name in the county of the adult's place of residence. Read it with sections 45.102 and 45.103 on the petition's contents and the order.

Texas text providing that a change of name under the subchapter does not release a person from liability incurred in the previous name or defeat any right the person had in the previous name.

Official Virginia circuit court form (revised 07/26) for an adult's sworn application under § 8.01-217: birth name, residence, date and place of birth, parents' names, the reason for the change, felony, incarceration,…

Virginia text requiring a person required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry to reregister in person with the local law-enforcement agency following any change of name, within three…

On motion of a party who changed name by reason of the marriage, the court restoring a former or maiden name must do so by a separate order meeting the requirements of § 8.01-217.

Virginia text: a person residing in the Commonwealth who changes his name or assumes another name unlawfully is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. The section does not itself say what makes a change unlawful;

Virginia text: on receipt of a certified copy of a court order changing the name of a person as listed in a vital record, and on request of the person, a parent, guardian or legal representative, or the registrant, the…

Virginia name change statute: a person applies to the circuit court where the person resides;