How to Change Your Name in California: Petition, Hearing, Decree

To change your name in California, you file a petition in the superior court of the county where you live, publish notice of the request in a local newspaper for four consecutive weeks, and get a judge’s approval at (or in place of) a hearing. From filing to decree usually takes about three months.¹ Court filing fees run $435 to $450, with fee waivers available if you can’t afford the cost.² Some situations — marriage, divorce, and changes to match gender identity — follow shorter paths that skip most of this.

Any adult California resident can petition, and the reason you give doesn’t have to be extraordinary. Cultural, religious, personal, and professional reasons all qualify.³ What the court will not approve is a name change sought for fraudulent purposes, such as evading a debt or a criminal record, and every petitioner must declare under penalty of perjury that they are not required to register as a sex offender.⁴

The Forms You Need

Three forms carry the case, all free from the California Courts website or your local clerk’s office:

Petition for Change of Name (NC-100) — the main form. It identifies you, states your current and proposed names, and gives the reason.⁵
Name and Information About the Person Whose Name Is to Be Changed (NC-110) — an attachment to the petition. File one NC-110 for each person named.⁶
Order to Show Cause for Change of Name (NC-120) — the court fills in most of this after you file. It sets your hearing date and names the newspaper where you must publish notice.⁷

If the petition covers a child and only one parent is filing, the other parent has to be served and has the right to object.⁸ Proof-of-service forms are at the clerk’s office.

Filing the Petition

Take the completed NC-100, NC-110, and any supporting documents to the superior court clerk in the county where you live. The clerk reviews the paperwork, stamps it, and returns copies to you. The court then issues the NC-120, which sets your hearing date and identifies the newspaper for publication.²

The filing fee is $435 to $450, depending on the county. You can ask for a fee waiver at the time of filing if you receive public benefits, your income is below the court’s threshold, or paying would prevent you from covering basic needs. Some counties accept electronic filing, so check your local court’s site before making the trip.

Publishing Notice in a Newspaper

After filing, publish the Order to Show Cause in a newspaper of general circulation in your county, once a week for four consecutive weeks.⁹ The newspaper is usually named on the NC-120 itself. Contact the paper directly to arrange the run. Costs typically fall around $100 to $120, though they vary by paper and county.

All four publications must be finished before your court date. Miss this, and the judge delays your case. When the run is complete, the newspaper issues a proof of publication that you either bring to the hearing or file with the court in advance.⁷ If your filing fee was waived, you can ask for the publication cost to be waived too.

The Hearing

Your hearing is scheduled between six and twelve weeks after the court issues the Order to Show Cause.⁹ In many cases, you won’t actually need to appear. If no one files a written objection at least two court days before the hearing, the judge can approve the petition without holding a hearing at all, and many courts routinely handle uncontested petitions that way.¹

If someone does object, or the judge has questions, plan to appear and explain your reasons. Objections from creditors or family members are uncommon. Bring your proof of publication, a government-issued ID, and anything that supports your reason for the change.

Getting Your Decree

When the judge approves the petition, the court issues a Decree Changing Name (NC-130). This one-page document is your legal proof of the change.¹⁰ Request several certified copies from the clerk on the spot, because many agencies and institutions want an original certified copy rather than a photocopy. Courts generally charge $25 to $40 per certified copy. Keep at least one in a safe place permanently.

Faster Paths: Marriage, Divorce, and Gender Identity

Not every name change requires a petition. If your reason fits one of the paths below, you can skip most of the process above.

Marriage

California lets either or both spouses adopt a new name at the time they apply for a marriage license. The options include taking the other spouse’s last name, using either spouse’s birth name, combining parts of both last names into a single name, or hyphenating them.¹¹ The new name has to be chosen when the license is issued; you can’t add it later through this route. The marriage certificate then serves as your legal proof for updating other records.

Divorce

During a divorce or annulment, either spouse can ask the court to restore their birth name or a former name. The judge is required to grant the request, and it doesn’t matter whether the restoration was mentioned in the original divorce petition.¹² The divorce judgment becomes your legal proof of the name change. One limit: this is available only in dissolution or nullity cases, not in a legal separation.

Gender Identity

Under California’s Gender Recognition Act, a petition to change your name to match your gender identity does not require newspaper publication, and the court must approve it without a hearing as long as no timely objection is filed. Objections based only on disagreement with the petitioner’s gender identity don’t count.¹³ If you also want to update the gender marker on your California birth certificate, you can combine both requests in one petition using Form NC-200 in place of NC-100, then file a certified copy of the decree with the State Registrar within 30 days.

Special Cases: Registrants and Safety

If you are required to register as a sex offender, the court must deny your petition unless you can show that granting it serves the interest of justice and won’t endanger public safety. The court checks law enforcement databases to verify status regardless of what you declare on the form.⁴ If the petition is approved, you must notify the chief of police in your city, or the county sheriff in an unincorporated area, within five business days.

Survivors of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or human trafficking can pursue a confidential name change that keeps the new name out of public court records. Using this process requires enrolling in California’s Safe at Home address confidentiality program through the Secretary of State, with the new name on file there. The confidential petition is exempt from newspaper publication, and court filings refer to the new name as confidential rather than stating it publicly.⁹ You can also ask the court to seal the case file.

Updating Your Records After the Decree

The decree is only the halfway point. You now have to update every piece of identification and most of your accounts, and the order matters because some agencies want proof from others before they’ll process a change.

Start with Social Security. Most other agencies want your Social Security record to match your new name before they’ll update theirs. Apply through the Social Security Administration with a certified copy of your decree and a current government-issued ID. There is no fee.¹⁴

Next, update your California driver’s license or state ID at the DMV. You can start online, but you have to finish in person. Bring your current license or ID, your certified decree, and any other required proof. The fee is $37 for a driver’s license or $40 for a standard ID, waived for ID cards for people 62 and older.¹⁵¹⁶

For your passport, the form depends on timing. If your current passport was issued less than one year ago, Form DS-5504 handles the change by mail, free for routine processing.¹⁷ Older than a year, and you’ll use DS-82 or DS-11 with standard fees.

Taxes hinge on Social Security. The IRS matches returns against SSA records, so if you file before SSA has processed your change, use your former name on that return to avoid delays and held refunds.¹⁸ Form 8822 lets you notify the IRS of a new address and name in one step.¹⁹

Then work through the rest: each of the three major credit bureaus (skip this and future credit applications may not connect to your existing history), bank and investment accounts, health insurance, employer payroll, voter registration, professional licenses, vehicle registration, and property deeds. Most institutions accept a certified copy of the decree with a current government ID. Keep a checklist. People are still finding accounts in their old name a year later, so be thorough while the paperwork is fresh.

1
California Courts. Adult Name Change
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California Courts. File Your Name Change Petition
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California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1276 – Applications for Change of Names
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California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1279.5 – Additional Requirements for Name Changes
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California Courts. Petition for Change of Name (Form NC-100)
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California Courts. Name and Information About the Person Whose Name Is to Be Changed
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California Courts. Publish Your Request for Name Change (Adult)
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California Courts. Change Your Child’s Legal Name (When One Parent Asking)
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California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1277 – Order to Show Cause for Change of Name
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California Courts. Decree Changing Name (NC-130)
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California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 306.5 – Name Changes in Marriage
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California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 2080 – Restoration of Former Name
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California Legislative Information. SB 179 – Gender Recognition Act
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Social Security Administration. U.S. Citizen – Adult Name Change on Social Security Card
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California Department of Motor Vehicles. Updating Information on Your Driver’s License or Identification Card
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California Department of Motor Vehicles. Licensing Fees
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U.S. Department of State. Application for a U.S. Passport (Form DS-5504)
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Internal Revenue Service. Name Changes and Social Security Number Matching Issues
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822, Change of Address