Family · Name Change
Adult Legal Name Change: Steps, Fee & Publication by State
How to legally change your name as an adult in each state: whether you must publish notice in a newspaper, the approximate court filing fee, whether a background check is required, and the basic steps. Each cited to the statute or the court.
Read this first: publish or get a background check
The adult name-change process is a court petition, and its two headline facts are whether you must publish a newspaper notice and what the court fee is. California, Pennsylvania, and Illinois require publication. Texas and Florida do not, but instead require a fingerprint background check. New York usually requires neither anymore, after a December 2021 change removed publication for most adults.
Every state shares the same floor: an adult resident, a lawful reason, and no changing your name to dodge creditors or a criminal record. And every fee here is an approximate range, because the petition is filed in a local court that sets its own fee, so publication, fingerprinting, record-search, and certified-copy costs are all separate add-ons. Every figure links to the statute or court, and pages still pending verification say so.
Every state in one table
Whether publication is required, the approximate filing fee, and the statute in each row.
Publication required (4)
| State | Filing fee | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| California | ~$435–$465 (varies) | Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §1275 |
| Georgia | Varies by county | O.C.G.A. §19‑12‑1 |
| Ohio | Varies by county | Ohio Rev. Code §2717.01 |
| Pennsylvania | ~$300+ (varies) | 54 Pa.C.S. §701 |
No publication (3)
| State | Filing fee | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | ~$400 (varies) | Fla. Stat. §68.07 |
| North Carolina | ~$120 | N.C. Gen. Stat. §101‑2 |
| Texas | ~$200–$350 (varies) | Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 45 |
No publication required (1)
| State | Filing fee | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | ~$300+ (varies) | 735 ILCS 5/21‑101 |
Publication (waivable) (1)
| State | Filing fee | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan | ~$175 | Mich. Comp. Laws §711.1 |
Usually no publication (1)
| State | Filing fee | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| New York | ~$65–$210 (varies) | N.Y. Civil Rights Law §§60–64‑a |
What these pages are, and what they aren't
Each state page is a reference for the adult name-change steps, publication rule, and approximate cost. They are deliberately not advice for your case: fees, publication, and background-check rules are set locally and change, so each page links to the statute or court self-help and says to verify with your clerk. This is legal information, not legal advice.