Petition for Change of Name
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File NC-100 with Ezel
Fill NC-100 with Ezel
AI-assisted intake, completeness review, and a court-ready PDF for NC-100 only. Print, sign in pen, file yourself.
What Ezel does with NC-100
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What is NC-100?
California Judicial Council mandatory-use petition for an adult name change, or for a parent or guardian asking the court to change a child's name. Filed in the superior court of the petitioner's county of residence (Code of Civil Procedure section 1277). Together with NC-110 (one per person whose name is being changed), CM-010 Civil Case Cover Sheet, NC-120 Order to Show Cause, and NC-130 Decree, this is the full opening packet. After filing, the court issues NC-120 setting a hearing date, the petitioner publishes the order in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for four consecutive weeks (CCP 1277(a)), and if no objection is filed at least two court days before the hearing the judge usually grants the petition without a hearing.
What happens if you miss the deadline: There is no filing deadline for the petition itself. After the court issues the NC-120 Order to Show Cause, missing the publication or service deadlines (publication four consecutive weeks; for a minor, personal service on the nonconsenting parent at least 30 days before the hearing) usually means the court will continue the hearing or deny the petition without prejudice.
How to file
- Filing fee
- Roughly $435 to $465 depending on county (general superior-court civil filing fee under Government Code section 70611). Fee waiver via FW-001. NC-100-INFO item 5: 'There is no filing fee for minors in the State's address confidentiality program (Safe at Home).'
- Filing method
- in-person, mail, efile (county-specific)
- Filing deadline
- No statutory filing deadline. After filing, the court issues NC-120 setting the hearing date (typically at least six weeks out per NC-100-INFO item 6). The petitioner must publish the NC-120 in a newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week for four consecutive weeks before the hearing (CCP 1277(a)). For a minor whose nonconsenting parent has not joined, the petitioner must personally serve the nonconsenting parent at least 30 days before the hearing under CCP 413.10, 414.10, 415.10, or 415.40 (NC-100-INFO item 8(a)). Publication is excused for gender-identity changes, Safe at Home participants, State Witness Program participants, and minors or nonminor dependents under juvenile-court jurisdiction (NC-100-INFO item 7).
- How to serve
- NC-100 itself is filed (not served). Service obligations begin after NC-120 issues: publish in a newspaper four consecutive weeks (CCP 1277(a)), and for a minor name change without the nonconsenting parent's joinder, personal service of NC-120 on the nonconsenting parent at least 30 days before the hearing (CCP 1277(a)(4)). NC-121 (Proof of Service of Order to Show Cause) is filed before the hearing if service was required.
- Wet signature
- Yes, sign in pen after printing.
- Notarization
- No
- Original and copies
- Original plus two copies of NC-100, NC-110, NC-120, and NC-130 per NC-100-INFO item 4. Clerk file-stamps the original and returns two endorsed copies.
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Attorney state bar number, only filled if an attorney is filing.
Filer's full name. For a pro se petition, this is the petitioner's CURRENT legal name.
- Pro se filers sometimes type their proposed new name here. The caption uses your CURRENT legal name; the new name only appears in item 2.
Law firm name. Pro se filers leave blank.
Filer's mailing street address.
Filer's city.
Filer's state.
Filer's ZIP code.
Filer's phone number.
Filer's fax. Effectively obsolete for pro se filers.
Filer's email. Optional but recommended (some courts e-mail hearing notices).
'Attorney for' caption. Pro se filers type 'Self-Represented' or 'In Pro Per'.
County of the superior court where the petition is filed. Code of Civil Procedure section 1277 sets venue: California residents file in the county of residence; non-residents seeking a new California marriage license or birth certificate file in the county where the marriage took place or where the birth certificate was issued.
- Filing in the county of work or birth instead of residence. CCP 1277 keys off where the person whose name is being changed currently lives.
Courthouse street address.
Courthouse mailing address (often the same as street).
Courthouse city and ZIP.
Courthouse branch name. Many counties have multiple branches; the clerk routes name-change cases to a specific civil branch.
Petitioner name(s) as they appear in the case caption. List every petitioner.
- Listing the proposed (new) name. The caption uses present legal name(s).
Case number assigned by the clerk at filing. Leave blank on the original; the clerk stamps it on.
- Inventing a case number before filing. Always leave blank on the original.
Item 1: petitioner's current legal name. If a parent or guardian is petitioning for a minor, this is the petitioning parent's or guardian's name, not the minor's.
- Filling in the minor's name when a parent is petitioning. Item 1 is the petitioner; the minor goes in item 2.
Item 1: residence radio. 1a (resides in this county) is the standard pro se path. 1b options are only for non-California residents asking the court to issue a new California marriage license (1b(1)) or California birth certificate (1b(2)) in a county where the marriage occurred or the birth certificate was issued (NC-100-INFO item 1(b)).
- Picking 1a when the person whose name is changing lives in a different county. Venue is wrong, the clerk can reject the filing or transfer it.
Item 2 row 1: present (current legal) name of the first person whose name is being changed.
Item 2 row 1: proposed (new) name. The court generally grants any name that is not for fraud or to evade creditors and that does not include numerals, symbols, or obscenity (CCP 1278; see also In re Ritchie, 159 Cal. 651 (1911)).
- Including special characters, numerals, or hyphens that the local civil branch will reject. If you want a hyphen or apostrophe in the name, check with the clerk first.
Item 2 row 2: optional second person's present name. Use only if the petition changes the name of more than one person.
Item 2 row 2: optional second person's proposed name.
Item 2 row 3: optional third person's present name.
Item 2 row 3: optional third person's proposed name.
Item 2 'continued' checkbox. Check only if changing more than three names; attach a typed list labeled 'Attachment 2' (MC-025 is the standard continuation form).
- Checking the box without preparing the attachment, or preparing the attachment without checking the box.
Item 4: count of people in item 2 who are under 18. Required field; enter 0 if no minors.
- Leaving blank. If no minors, type 0; if 1 or more, item 5 must be filled in.
Item 5: who is requesting the name change for the minor(s). Required if item 4 is 1 or more. CCP 1277(a)(4) requires personal service of the NC-120 on a nonconsenting parent at least 30 days before the hearing if only one parent is petitioning.
- Picking 5b (one parent) but not arranging personal service on the other parent. The court will continue or deny the hearing without proof of service.
Item 5c: name and relationship of the near relative making the request.
Item 5d: name of the guardian. The guardian also attaches NC-110G (Supplemental Attachment to Petition for Change of Name (Declaration of Guardian)) for each child whose name is to be changed (NC-100-INFO item 4).
- Forgetting NC-110G. Guardians need NC-130G as the decree, not NC-130.
Item 5e: name of the attorney for an individual under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
Item 5f: free-text 'other' description (e.g., 'foster parent under court order').
Item 6: checkbox indicating the petition seeks to change a name to conform to gender identity. Most filers leave blank. NC-100 carries the gender-identity box, but if the petitioner ALSO wants a court order recognizing a change of gender (and a new California birth certificate or marriage certificate), the correct form is NC-300, NOT NC-100. Form text page 1: 'To change your name as part of a petition to recognize a change of gender ... use form NC-300.'
- Checking item 6 when the petitioner also wants gender recognition; the correct path is NC-300.
Item 6 radio: 'petitioner' (the petitioner's own name) or 'other' (a different person, e.g., a child).
Item 6: name of the other person whose name is being changed to conform to gender identity. Required if 'other' is selected.
Item 7a: number of NC-110 pages attached. Each person whose name is being changed requires their own NC-110.
- Filing NC-100 without NC-110. Item 7 is mandatory, and the verification under penalty of perjury is on NC-110, not on NC-100 itself.
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