The process of changing a person’s legal name is governed by Code of Civil Procedure sections 1275-1279.6. You do not have to change your name through a court proceeding, since section 1279.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure affirms the common law right of any person in California to change his or her name without a formal court process. However, there may be legal benefits to a formal court proceeding. A filing fee of $300.00 is required to file the petition and order to show cause, unless you qualify for a fee waiver.

Filing the petition
Order to show cause
Publication of order to show cause
Hearing on the petition
Filing decree with Secretary of State

A petition to change your name must be filed in the Superior Court in the county where you live. You can get a form for the petition at the court clerk’s office. You must sign the petition. If the petition is for a minor, the petition must be signed by at least one parent, if alive, or if both parents have died, it must by signed by the minor’s legal guardian. If there is no living parent and no legal guardian, it can be signed by a near relative or close friend. If the petition for a minor is signed by one parent, and the other is still alive, the petition must include the last known address of the other living parent.

Your name on the petition should correspond with the name on your birth certificate. If you have used other legal names in the past, you may include those names, with the legal one first, followed by "also known as . . ."

The petition must include your place of birth, current residence, current name, proposed new name, reason for changing your name, and the names of your parents. The petition must also include your marital status, and be signed and verified by the applicant, if an adult, or if a minor, by a parent or guardian, or relative or friend, if there is no living parent or legal guardian.

You must also prepare an Order to Show Cause to file with your petition. You can get the form for an Order to Show Cause from the court Clerk’s office. The form must include your current legal name and your proposed new name, and give notice of the date, time and place of the hearing on your petition. The hearing must be set not less than 4 nor more than 8 weeks from the date of filing the petition, in order to allow sufficient time to publish the notice.

The order to show cause must be signed by a judge. Once the order to show cause is returned to you with the judge’s signature, and a date specified for the hearing, you should mark the date on your calendar so you do not forget to appear in court.

You must submit a decree changing name together with the petition and order to show cause. The court will hold the decree in the file until the hearing on the petition.

The order to show cause must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. You must obtain proof of publication from the newspaper and file the proof with the court clerk. You should always check the publication the first week it is run, to make sure the information is accurate, especially the spelling of the names and the date of the court hearing. If the information is inaccurate, it could result in a delay in completing the process, so you want any error corrected as soon as possible.

If the petition is filed on behalf of a minor and the other parent is living, but does not consent to the petition, the petitioner shall have the other parent served with notice of the hearing, at least 30 days prior to the hearing, according to the rules for serving process. These rules can be found beginning at Code of Civil Procedure section 413.10. The notice must include the date, time and location of the hearing. Proof of service of the notice must be filed with the court clerk.

Be on time for the hearing. Bring a copy of the petition, order to show cause, proof of service and decree changing name, so you can be prepared should the court require any information regarding the papers you filed. After the court grants the petition, the judge will sign the decree changing name.

Bring one or more copies of the decree to the court clerk’s office for certification. A fee of $7.00 is charged for each document to be certified.

To change the name on your birth certificate you must file a certified copy of the decree with the Department of Health Services Office of Vital Records, 304 "S" Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.

You can submit the decree by mail, but you should include an extra copy of your transmittal letter, along with the required fee charged by the Vital Records Department, and a self-addressed stamped envelope for a return copy of your letter indicating when the decree was filed. You can find a sample transmittal letter at the Ventura Courts Self-Help Legal Access Center.