Fill out these forms:

• Petition to Change the Name of a Child: This form asks the judge to change your child’s name. You and your child’s other parent must sign this form under penalty of perjury. This means it is a crime to lie on this form.
• You are the “Petitioner.” The child’s other parent is the “Co-Petitioner.”
• If you plan to file the name change case in person instead of online, print your answers neatly using blue or black ink. Do not leave blanks.
• Order Changing the Name of a Child: You will ask the judge to sign this form to change your child’s name. You must fill it out before going to court. Fill out all blanks except:

1. the date of judgment,
2. the judge’s signature, and
3. the judge’s name.

• This form must also be signed by both you and the other parent.

Other Forms:

• If your child is 10 years old or older, fill out the Child’s Consent to Name Change (For Child Age 10 or Older). It tells the judge that your child wants his or her name to be changed. Note: If your child is 10 years old or older, you cannot change your child’s name without his or her consent.
• If you cannot afford to pay the filing fee for your case, fill out the Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. Call the clerk’s office in the county where the child lives to learn the filing fee for your case.
• Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship
• Civil Case Information Sheet: Note: The Texas Supreme Court repealed the rule requiring the civil case information sheet, so you may only need this form if you are filing the name change case in person, at the courthouse, instead of e-filing).

Make one copy of each of the following:

1. Completed Petition to Change the Name of a Child (signed by both you and the other parent), and
2. Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (if you cannot afford the filing fee), and
3. Child’s completed Child’s Consent to Name Change (if your child is 10 or older).

You do not need copies of the Civil Case Information Sheet form, the Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship form or the Order Changing the Name of a Child form.

1. File (turn in) your completed Petition and additional starting forms with the district court clerk (or county court clerk, depending on the specific county) in the county where the child lives.

   Note: Check with the clerk of the court in the county where the child lives to learn which court in the county hears name change cases. Depending on the county, name changes may be heard in the district court or county court.

2. Turn in your completed court forms (and copies), except the Order Changing the Name of a Child form. Don’t turn in the Order form yet. You will present the Order form to the judge when you go to court.
3. Pay the filing fee or file your completed Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs if you cannot afford the fee.
4. The clerk will write your “Cause Number” and “Court Number” at the top of the first page of your Petition to Change the Name of a Child and other forms. (Write these numbers at the top of your Order Changing the Name of a Child form.)
5. The clerk will “file-stamp” your copies with the date and time. The clerk will keep the originals and give you back your copies.
6. Ask the clerk if there are local rules or procedures you need to know about for your case. For example, there might be standing orders in your county that need to be attached to your petition.
7. Ask the clerk when you can present your proposed Order Changing the Name of a Child to a judge. You may be able to present your proposed order to a judge that day. Or you may have to come back another day.

1. Go to court to finish your case. (Read the article Tips for the Courtroom for more information about going to court).
2. When you get to the courtroom, tell the judge’s clerk you are there and give the clerk the following documents:

• your completed proposed Order Changing the Name of a Child (signed by both you and the other parent),
• the file-stamped copy of your Petition to Change the Name of a Child, and
• the file-stamped copy of the Child’s Consent to Name Change (if applicable).

3. Sit down until the judge calls your case.
4. When the judge calls your case, walk to the front of the courtroom and stand in front of the judge’s bench. The judge will have you raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth. Tell the judge that you and your child’s other parent are asking that your child’s name be changed. Be prepared to quickly tell the judge why you think changing your child’s name is in your child’s best interest.
5. The judge will listen to what you say and review your forms. If everything is in order and the judge agrees that changing your child’s name would be in your child’s best interest, the judge will sign your Order Changing the Name of a Child.

After the judge signs your Order Changing the Name of a Child, go back to the clerk’s office.

1. File (turn in) the signed Order Changing the Name of a Child. Your case is not final until you do so.
2. File the completed Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship form.

3. Get several—at least five—certified copies of the Order from the clerk. You must pay a small fee for each certified copy.

   You will need certified copies of the Order to change the child’s name on the child’s social security card, birth certificate, passport, school records, etc.

   Each agency will want a certified copy of the Order to keep. You will also want a certified copy of the Order for your records.

You are responsible for notifying the appropriate agencies of your child’s new name.

1. To change your child’s social security card, contact your local Social Security Administration (SSA) office.

2. To change your child’s Texas birth certificate, contact the Texas Department of State Health Services–Vital Statistics Unit. Read the Bureau’s Requirements for Requesting/Changing Vital Records page, which explains birth certificate amendments and includes paperwork for requesting corrections and amendments.

   If your child was born in another state, contact the vital statistics office in that state.

3. Contact the U.S. State Department to change the name on the child’s passport.
4. To change your child’s school records, take a certified copy of the Order to your child’s school.