Adult Legal Name Change Requirements in Illinois
At a glance
| Governing law and court | 735 ILCS 5/21-101 through 21-105. File in the circuit court of the county where the petitioner resides (§ 21-101(a)) |
|---|---|
| Who may petition and residency | Illinois resident; must have resided in the State for three months by the name-change hearing or entry of the order. No separate minimum county-residence period stated (§ 21-101(a)) |
| Petition contents and oath | Use the Illinois Supreme Court statewide standardized form. State current and requested names, residence, Illinois-residence duration, nativity, and the required adult conviction, arrest, and pending-charge disclosures verified under § 1-109 (§ 21-102(a)) |
| Criminal background check | No universal fingerprint package. If the petition discloses an unpardoned conviction, an uncharged arrest, or a pending charge, the State's Attorney may request—or the court may order—an Illinois State Police Access and Review transcript update; confirmation is filed under seal (§ 21-102(b)) |
| Publication or notice | No newspaper publication for adult petitions: former § 21-103 was repealed effective March 1, 2025. The clerk serves the State's Attorney and Illinois State Police when specified criminal-history disclosures are present (§ 21-102.5(a)) |
| Safety, confidentiality, and special tracks | Verified motion may seek impoundment when public disclosure would cause hardship and negatively affect health or safety; the nonexclusive examples include transgender status, abuse or trafficking survival, refugee/asylum status, and conversion-therapy survival. Self-attestation suffices; a risk statement permits omission of the home or shelter address (§ 21-103.8) |
| Hearing and grant standard | No universal hearing command for an ordinary adult petition; the statute measures residency at the hearing or entry of an order. Court may grant after Article XXI's conditions are met and no reason appears to deny relief (§ 21-101(a), (d)) |
| Grounds for denial or restriction | An unpardoned person currently required to register may not file unless the request is based on marriage, religious belief, trafficking-victim status, or gender-related identity; an unpardoned felony petitioner may not file until the sentence is completed, terminated, or discharged (§ 21-101(b), (b-1)). Prosecutor objection is possible under § 21-102.5 |
| Fee and post-order effect | Confirm the local circuit-clerk total; Cook County's official County Division schedule lists $388 to file a name-change petition. Statewide civil fee-waiver forms are available. Orders involving specified criminal histories go to State Police for transcript or registration updates (§ 21-101(d)); post-2010 common-law changes are invalid (§ 21-105) |
Requirements one by one
File the statewide form in the county where you live
Illinois uses the circuit court of the petitioner's county of residence. The petitioner must have lived in Illinois for three months by the hearing or the entry of the order. This replaced the former six-month-before-filing rule on March 1, 2025. See § 21-101(a).
The Supreme Court's standardized petition states the current and requested names, residence, length of Illinois residence, and state or country of nativity. It also contains a section 1-109 verification covering adult convictions, arrests without charges, and pending charges. The current adult form suite was approved in March 2025.
A criminal-history update is conditional, not universal
Illinois does not require every adult petitioner to submit fingerprints or buy a state or FBI background report. If the required statement discloses an unpardoned conviction, an arrest without a filed charge, or a pending charge, the State's Attorney may ask—or the judge may require—the person to update the Illinois State Police transcript through Access and Review. The confirmation is filed under seal. See § 21-102(b).
The clerk also serves the State's Attorney and State Police when those disclosures are present. The prosecutor may file a specific written objection under § 21-102.5.
Newspaper publication ended in 2025
Former § 21-103 was repealed effective March 1, 2025. An ordinary adult petition therefore has no newspaper-publication step. Cook County's current official name-change page independently identifies the same change.
Criminal-history service under section 21-102.5 is a separate targeted notice rule. It should not be confused with the repealed public-newspaper requirement.
A verified motion can protect the file and address
Under § 21-103.8, the petitioner may move to impound the court file by verifying that public disclosure would be a hardship and negatively affect health or safety. The statute's nonexclusive examples include transgender people, adoptees, survivors of domestic or intimate-partner abuse, gender-based violence, human trafficking, or conversion therapy, refugees, people granted special immigrant status, and people granted asylum.
Supporting documents may be attached, but self-attestation is sufficient. If disclosing the address would put the petitioner or a household member at risk, or reveal a domestic-violence shelter address, the filing may omit that address and designate a different address for service.
Registry status and an unfinished felony sentence restrict filing
An unpardoned person who is currently required to register under one of the three statutes named in § 21-101(b) generally may not file during the registration period. The statute permits a petition verified as based on marriage, religious belief, trafficking-victim status, or gender-related identity, but leaves the result to the judge.
An unpardoned felony petitioner whose sentence has not been completed, terminated, or discharged may not file. Once the sentence is complete, section 21-101(b-1) no longer imposes that filing bar, although the disclosure, notification, and objection rules may still apply.
The court applies Article XXI's compliance standard
Section 21-101(d) allows the court to enter the requested order when Article XXI's conditions and requirements have been met and no reason appears to deny relief. The statute does not command a hearing in every ordinary adult case: its residency rule expressly speaks of the hearing or entry of the order. Local scheduling practices still matter.
If the order involves the criminal-history circumstances named in subsection (d), the order and applicable Access and Review response go to the Illinois State Police for an updated transcript or offender registration.
Confirm the filing total with the circuit clerk
Cook County's official County Division schedule lists $388 to file a petition to change name. Confirm the current total with the clerk where the case will be filed. The Illinois Courts site supplies approved statewide civil fee-waiver forms for a person who cannot afford the court fees.
Illinois does not recognize a new informal common-law name change: § 21-105 says changes adopted on or after July 1, 2010 are invalid unless made through marriage or another legal proceeding.
What trips people up
- The ILGA page displays overlapping versions of section 21-101. The current three-month rule is the P.A. 103-1063 text effective March 1, 2025; the same page also prints older six-month versions.
- Old forms and templates still mention publication. Current section 21-103 is repealed, and the March 2025 adult form suite no longer includes a publication form.
- Impounding the court file does not block required State Police reporting. Section 21-103.8(c) preserves the subsection 21-101(d) transmission.
- A disclosed record does not automatically mean fingerprints. The current statute uses a conditional Access and Review update.
Common questions
Must an Illinois adult publish a name-change notice?
No. The publication section was repealed effective March 1, 2025.
Does every petitioner need fingerprints?
No. Illinois uses verified criminal-history disclosures and a conditional State Police Access and Review update, not a universal fingerprint package.
Can the name-change file be kept from public view?
The petitioner may move to impound it under section 21-103.8. A verified health-or-safety hardship statement is required, and self-attestation is acceptable documentation.
Is a hearing always required?
Article XXI does not impose a universal hearing command for every ordinary adult petition. The court or clerk controls local scheduling, and criminal- history issues can create additional proceedings.
Statutes and sources
- 735 ILCS 5/21-101 — circuit court, three-month residency, registry and unfinished-sentence restrictions, grant standard, and State Police update. Official section (accessed 2026-08-08).
- 735 ILCS 5/21-102 and 21-102.5 — standardized verified petition, conditional Access and Review update, clerk service, and prosecutor objections. Official § 21-102; official § 21-102.5 (accessed 2026-08-08).
- 735 ILCS 5/21-103 and 21-103.8 — repeal of publication and current health-or-safety impoundment. Official repealed section; official impoundment section (accessed 2026-08-08).
- 735 ILCS 5/21-105 — invalidity of post-2010 common-law changes. Official section (accessed 2026-08-08).
- Illinois Courts statewide forms — current March 2025 adult form suite and current civil fee-waiver suite. Name-change forms; fee-waiver forms (accessed 2026-08-08).
- Cook County Circuit Clerk fee schedule — $388 name-change petition filing fee. Official schedule (accessed 2026-08-08).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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