Adult Legal Name Change Requirements in Connecticut

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Court, forms, and sworn disclosures

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-99 gives Probate Court jurisdiction concurrent with Superior Court under § 52-11. The ordinary adult route uses the Probate Court for the district where the adult resides; the statute and Rule 47.1 state no minimum residence period.

The Probate packet is PC-901, sworn PC-910, a certified long-form birth certificate, two IDs including one photo ID, and separately filed confidential PC-901CI. The petition supplies the current and proposed names, address and telephone, birth date and place, birth-certificate name, spouse information, and reason. It is signed under penalty of false statement.

PC-910 adds residence length, real estate, arrears and creditor-notice facts, pending criminal charges, all convictions, registry status, and prior name- change petitions. The affidavit is sworn before the listed judicial or notarial officer.

Background checks, notice, and safety

Probate Court Rule § 47.4 requires a sex-offender and deadly-weapon-offender registry search for every adult petitioner. A full criminal-background check is mandatory when the court has reason to believe there is a pending charge, conviction, or other criminal record, and discretionary for any petitioner. The adult does not submit a fingerprint card under the current rule or forms.

There is no newspaper-publication step. Rule § 47.1(c) instead requires the court to send hearing notice to the petitioner and spouse, but the court may excuse spouse notice when it might jeopardize the petitioner's safety. The Social Security number goes on PC-901CI, which is filed separately and excluded from the public court record.

Hearing and decision

Unless the court directs otherwise, Rule § 47.1(d) requires the petitioner to appear with two IDs and testify under oath or affirmation. The current Probate Court guide likewise tells the adult to attend the hearing and be prepared to explain the request. The filing declares that the change is not sought to deceive, defraud, mislead, or avoid the legal consequences of a conviction.

Connecticut does not categorically bar an adult with a criminal record. A person on the sex-offender or deadly-weapon-offender registry must notify the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection before filing and include the required sworn statement. The Commissioner may challenge through the Attorney General, and the court may deny on a preponderance finding that the request is meant to avoid a conviction's legal consequences.

Fee and effect of the decree

The current Probate Court fee page lists $250 for other petitions, motions, and applications. Under § 45a-111(c), an indigent petitioner may apply to waive the filing fee and necessary expenses, including authorized service expense.

Under § 52-11(a), the Superior Court decree makes the complainant thereafter known by the ordered name; the Probate decree supplies the same court-ordered change under concurrent jurisdiction. If the petitioner is registry-listed or otherwise known by the Probate Court to have a criminal record, Rule § 47.4(c) requires a copy of the decree to DESPP and the police department for the town where the offense occurred.

What trips people up

• The petition and affidavit are different documents. PC-901 is signed under penalty of false statement; PC-910 is separately sworn.
• “May conduct a full criminal background check” does not describe the entire rule. Rule 47.4 makes the broader check mandatory when the court has reason to believe a charge, conviction, or other record exists.
• The safety exception concerns notice to the spouse. Current Connecticut sources do not create a general name-change sealing track from that exception.

Common questions

Must I publish the proposed name in a newspaper?

No. The ordinary Probate procedure uses court-sent hearing notice rather than newspaper publication.

Is a hearing always required?

Rule 47.1(d) says the petitioner appears unless the court directs otherwise. Treat the ordinary route as hearing-based, not as automatically papers-only.

Does any criminal record prevent a name change?

No categorical bar appears. Registry status creates prefiling notice, a sworn statement, Commissioner standing, and the conviction-evasion denial standard; other criminal history affects screening and decree transmission.

Statutes and sources

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-99 — Probate jurisdiction, registry notice/challenge, denial standard, and post-order notice (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-11 — Superior Court jurisdiction, residence, decree effect, and parallel registry rules (accessed July 27, 2026).
• 2026 Connecticut Probate Court Rules, Rule 47 — adult venue and documents, spouse-safety notice exception, appearance, background checks, and decree transmission (accessed July 27, 2026).
• PC-901, PC-910, and PC-901CI — mandatory adult petition, sworn affidavit, attachments, disclosures, and confidential Social Security sheet (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-111 and Probate Court fee page — indigency waiver and current $250 filing-fee listing (accessed July 27, 2026).