We are the only company in California offering Full Service Name Change with a 5-Star (YELP) reputation. For a small fee, you can have a service like start Name Change help you, or you can do it all yourself. Either way, if it’s done completely correctly, with the judge’s approval, you will get a Name Change Court Order…a Decree Changing Name. A Certified Copy of the Decree Changing Name will require even the most important agencies to issue you a new ID and Official Records when you present it.
If you already know everything about the name change process, and want to get your Name Change Court Order now, visit the Start Name Change Start Now page to begin. Our Questionnaire will walk you through this quickly. 5-10 minutes and you’ll be underway! And, with Full Service, you’ll give us your information, make the payments, and go get your Name Change Court Order, upon approval. If you prefer to do everything yourself, you can visit the court’s own website to get started. Once you have a Decree Changing Name or other name change court order, you can proceed to change your ID and Official Records immediately.
California DMV requires that you come in to have your Driver’s License or State ID updated for Change of Name. When you are doing this, it’s best to be sure that your Social Security Administration records are already updated for the Legal Name you will be asking DMV to adopt. You will be asked to:
You will also need to provide a Certified Copy of the Decree Changing Name, other Court Order, or other Official and accepted Name Change or Legal Name document. Without that, it’s unlikely the DMV will agree to issue a new License or ID Card. Be careful of dealing with private companies claiming they can do this for you. Try and be sure you are dealing directly with the State of California DMV. The best way to be sure is to visit their office. If you visit the DMV website (choose Driver’s License, DL/ID Card), you will not be asked for your information or any money, but you can get confirmation of what will be required when you go to the DMV office.
To change your name on your passport by showing them an original or certified copy of your marriage certificate or court order. Or, you can prove Usage if you have documents to prove your legal name as a result of many years of exclusive use of it. The Passport office is one of the only offices to honor Usage to prove a legal name. However, every office, including the Passport office, honors a Certified Copy of your Decree Changing Name.
The state where you were born wants to see your Name Change Court Order because they are the only ones who can amend it. Your birth state will send you an Amended Birth Certificate if you want one. The California Department of Public Health has an application and process to follow, if you want to get one. Most adults never bother doing that. Your Court Order will be all the authority you need once you have it. A representative policy from California’s Vital Records is that to amend a birth certificate, you must obtain and provide a Certified Court Order establishing a new legal name. To confirm see Amending Birth Certificate with Court Order-California
We recommend you get 2 Certified Copies of your Court Order, upon approval; 1 to use changing your ID (Social Security, DMV, Passport, etc.) and 1 to keep in a safe place, just in case. If you plan to get an Amended Birth Certificate, get 1 extra Certified Copy for that. You can get more anytime from that same courthouse, even years later.
Each place you present your Certified Copy of the Name Change Decree, they will give it back to you after they make notes or a copy of it. The exception is the birth certificate people. If you’re going to apply for an Amended Birth Certificate after Name Change, they will require that you provide a Certified Copy of the Court Order for Name Change and they will keep that one.
Changing a Child’s Legal Name is different from changing an adult’s name in several ways. A child must have 1 or both parents petition for their name change, whereas any adult can Petition for themselves. Also, depending on the age of the child and the court jurisdiction area, background checks and identity documentation may be needed for the child or parent(s), or both.
Another key difference about name change for a child, is the judge will be considering the child’s best interests more than might be the case for the judge to decide about name change for an adult. If only one parent is Petitioning for the child’s change of name, the judge will want to know whether the other parent’s onboard with it or at least knows it’s happening. Expect your judge to want to see Proof that a non-consenting parent was Served with Notice of the Name Change Hearing or a Declaration to satisfactorily explain why that wasn’t reasonably possible to do.
Name Change may seem too complicated. But, if you do need a name change document, get a Name Change Court Order. It’s like a birth certificate for the legal name you want. With a Certified Copy of it, you can get all your ID and Official Records changed. You can have the legal name you want. It can be life changing. At a minimum, it will make you feel more like yourself. You can do this! We’re Start Name Change, and we help with that!
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