Fill out these forms:

• Petition to Change the Name of a Child. This form asks a judge to change a child’s name. You must sign this form under penalty of perjury. This means you could be charged with a crime if you 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. Note: You MUST be a parent or nonparent managing conservator or legal guardian to ask for a child’s name to be changed.

  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 a respondent. If you are a non-parent managing conservator or legal guardian of the child, you must list both parents as respondents.

  Important: Do not use these instructions if anyone else has a court-ordered relationship with the child.

• 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.
• Child’s Consent to Name Change (For Child Age 10 or Older). This form must be signed by the child if the child is 10 years old or older. It tells the judge that the child wants his or her name to be changed. Note: If the child is 10 years old or older and does not want a name change, you can’t change his or her name.
• 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.
• Civil Case Information Sheet if you are filing this case in person instead of e-filing.

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. At the clerk’s office, you will need to:

   • Turn in your completed court forms (and copies), except the Order Changing the Name of a Child form. You will present the Order form to the judge when it is time to finish your case.
   • Pay the filing fee (or file your completed Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs if you cannot afford the fee).
   • Ask the clerk:
     • if there are local rules, standing orders, or procedures you need to know about for your case.
     • 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.

   The clerk will:

   1. 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, and
   2. “file-stamp” your copies with the date and time.
3. Write the cause number and court number at the top of your Order Changing the Name of a Child form.

Go to court to finish your case. Read Tips for the Courtroom for more information about going to court.

When you get to the courtroom, tell the judge’s clerk or court coordinator you are there. Give the clerk the following:

• proposed Order Changing the Name of a Child,
• file-stamped copy of your Petition to Change the Name of a Child,
• the file-stamped copy of the Child’s Consent to Name Change (if applicable),
• if a parent is dead, the parent’s death certificate,
• if a parent’s parental rights were terminated, your certified copy of the court order terminating the parent’s rights, 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.

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 who you are 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 the 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.