Fill out these forms:

• Petition to Change the Name of a Child. This form asks a judge to change your child’s name. You must sign this form under penalty of perjury. This means it is a crime to lie on this form. Print your answers using blue or black ink. Do not leave blanks.

  Who is the petitioner? You are the “petitioner,” the person asking the court to change the child’s name.

  Who must be listed as a respondent in the Petition to Change the Name of a Child? If you are the child’s parent, you must list the other parent as the “respondent.” If a nonparent has been named as your child’s managing conservator or legal guardian you must also list that person as a “respondent.” If you are the child’s nonparent managing conservator or legal guardian, you must list both parents as “respondents.”

  Note: The Petition asks for your address. Each respondent will get a copy of your Petition. If you are concerned about a respondent knowing your address, call the Family Violence Legal Line at 800-374-4673 for free advice.

• Order Changing the Name of a Child. You will ask the judge to sign this form to change the child’s name. Fill out all blanks except: (1) the date of judgment, (2) the judge’s signature and (3) the judge’s name. You must also sign this form.
• Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship
• Civil Case Information Sheet. If you are filing the case in person at the courthouse, you will need this form.
• Child’s Consent to Name Change (For Child Age 10 or Older). This form must be signed by your child if your child is 10 years old or older. It tells the judge that your child wants his or her name to be changed. If your child is 10 years old or older, you cannot change your child’s name without his or her consent.
• Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. Fill out this additional form if you cannot afford to pay the filing fee for your case. Call the clerk’s office in the county where the child lives to learn the filing fee for your case.

Make enough copies of each of the following forms to have one copy for you and one copy for each respondent:

• your completed Petition to Change the Name of a Child, and
• the child’s completed Child’s Consent to Name Change (if the child is 10 or older).

Make a copy of your Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (if you cannot afford the filing fee) for yourself.

You do not need copies of the Civil Case Information Sheet form or the Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship form.

You do not need an extra copy of the Order Changing the Name of a Child form at this stage of the case.

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 it is time to finish your case.

3. Tell the clerk you want to have the other parent served in person. This means a sheriff, constable or private process server will deliver the initial court papers to the other parent in person.

   Note: If anyone else is listed as a respondent you must have that person served, too, unless they agree to the name change and will sign your proposed Order Changing the Name of a Child and this form: Respondent’s Original Answer form.

4. Pay the filing fee and issuance fee (or file your completed Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs if you cannot afford the court costs).
5. Ask the clerk if there is a local standing order that you need to follow or attach to any of your documents.
6. Ask the clerk if there are local rules you need to know about for your case.
7. The clerk will “file-stamp” your copies with the date and time. The clerk will keep the original and give one copy back to you.
8. The clerk will print a form called a “citation.” The citation tells the other parent that you have filed a child name change case. The citation also tells the other parent that unless he or she files an answer with the court you will be able to finish your case by default—without the other parent. The clerk will attach a copy of your Petition to Change the Name of a Child to the citation. The citation with a copy of your Petition attached are the initial court papers that must be served on the other parent by a constable, sheriff or private process server. Read Step 4 for further instructions.

It is your responsibility to arrange for the other parent to be served with the initial court papers by a constable, sheriff, or private process server. You cannot serve the initial court papers yourself.

What are the initial court papers? The initial court papers include the citation you got at the clerk’s office with a copy of your Petition attached.

1. Send the initial court papers to a constable, sheriff, or private process server in the county where the other parent can be served.
2. Include the service fee or a file-stamped copy of your Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. (Call first to learn the fee.) Also, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
3. The constable, sheriff or private process server will deliver the initial court papers to the other parent in person. The constable, sheriff or private process server will fill out a form called a Return of Service. It tells the court when and where the other parent was served. The completed Return of Service is proof the other parent was served. The other parent will not have to sign anything.
4. The Return of Service must be filed with the court. The constable, sheriff or private process server may file it themselves or they may give the completed Return of Service form to you. If they give it to you, make a copy and file the original at the courthouse. It must be on file for at least 10 days before you can finish your case, not counting the day it is filed or the day you go to court to finish your case.

Wait the following required waiting periods:

• 20+ day waiting period: From the day the other parent is served, the other parent must have at least 20 days plus the next Monday at 10 a.m. to file an answer with the court.

  Find the day the other parent was served on a calendar, count out 20 more days, then go to the next Monday. This is the last day of the other parent’s answer period. However, if the other parent files an answer at any time before you finish your case it will still count.

• 10+ day waiting period: The constable, sheriff, or private process server should have completed a Return of Service form stating when the other parent was served.

  The Return of Service form must be on file with the court for at least 10 days before you can finish your case.

  Important: When counting the 10-day waiting period, do not count the day the Return of Service is filed with the court, and do not count the day you go to court to finish your case.

Call the clerk’s office to find out if the other parent filed an answer. If the other parent filed an answer, you cannot finish your case by default.

• If the other parent filed an answer and will now agree to sign your completed proposed Order Changing the Name of a Child form, you can finish your case by agreement.
• If the other parent filed an answer and will not agree to sign your completed Order Changing the Name of a Child form, your case is contested. To finish a contested case, you must set a contested final hearing. You must give the other parent at least 45 days’ notice of the final hearing. If there are other respondents they must also receive this notice. Read this article to learn more: How to Set a Contested Final Hearing (Family Law). Remember: It’s always best to have a lawyer if your case is contested.

If the other parent hasn’t filed an answer, you may be able to finish your case without them (by default)—but only if all of the following are true:

• The other parent was properly served by a constable, sheriff, or private process server.

• A Return of Service form (that shows when and where the other parent was served) has been on file with the court for at least 10 days—not counting the day it was filed or the day you go to court.

• At least 20 days plus the next Monday have passed since the other parent was served.

• The other parent has not filed an answer, and does not file one before you finish your case. (Keep in mind: the other parent can still file an answer at any time before your case is finished—even after the 20+ days have passed.)

• If anyone else was named as a respondent in your case:

  • They were also served and did not file an answer, or

  • They signed both a Respondent’s Original Answer form and your Order Changing the Name of a Child form to show they agree.

If all of the above are true and you can finish your case by default, fill out these additional forms and make one copy of each form:

• Certificate of Last Known Mailing Address
• Military Status Declaration
• If your case is in Harris County, fill out a Military Status Affidavit instead of a Military Status Declaration. Sign it in front of a notary.)

If you can finish your case by default, call the clerk’s office to find out when and where the court hears uncontested child name change cases.

Call the clerk’s office again the day before you plan to go to court to make sure the other parent has still not filed an answer. If the other parent has filed an answer, you cannot finish your case by default. Go back to Step 6.

Read Tips for the Courtroom for more information about going to court.

Bring the following documents with you to the courthouse on the day you plan to finish your case:

• proposed Order Changing the Name of a Child,
• a file-stamped copy of the Petition to Change the Name of a Child,
• a file-stamped copy of the Child’s Consent to Name Change (if applicable),
• a file-stamped copy of the Return of Service form showing when and where the other parent was served,
• a completed Certificate of Last Known Mailing Address form, and
• if you are not the child’s parent, a copy of the court order naming you as the child’s managing conservator or legal guardian.

When you get to the courthouse, go to the clerk’s office.

• Ask the clerk if you need the court file or docket sheet (list of what has been filed in your case).
• Ask the clerk to check one more time to see if the other parent has filed an answer. If the other parent has filed an answer, you cannot finish your case by default. Go back to Step 6.
• File the Certificate of Last Known Mailing Address and the Military Status Declaration (or Military Status Affidavit). Ask the clerk to file stamp your copy of each form. Bring a file-stamped copy of each form with you to court.

When you get to the courtroom, tell the judge’s clerk or coordinator that you are there. Sit down until the judge calls your case.

When the judge calls your case:

1. Walk to the front of the courtroom, and stand in front of the judge’s bench.
2. The judge will have you raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth.
3. Tell the judge your name and whether you are the child’s parent or the child’s nonparent managing conservator or legal guardian.
4. Tell the judge you are asking that the child’s name be changed.
5. Be prepared to quickly tell the judge why you think changing the child’s name is in the child’s best interest.
6. The judge will listen to what you say, and review your papers.

If everything is in order, and the judge agrees that changing the child's name would be in your child's best interset, then the judge will sign the 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. File (turn in) the signed Order Changing the Name of a Child. Your case is NOT final until you do so.

1. Get several certified copies of the Order from the clerk. You must pay a small fee for each certified copy.
2. 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.
3. Each agency will want a certified copy of the Order to keep.
4. 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.