How Much Does It Cost To Change Your Child’s Name In Arizona?
Child Name Change Costs in Arizona
Changing a Child’s Last Name is a big deal. And, sometimes you want to change your child’s first or middle names too. It’s not free or simple, but It’s really important to get Your Child’s Name exactly the way it should be, right. This article will give you information about all the Child Name Change Costs in Arizona.
Legal Name Change is commonly understood to mean the process of getting a Superior Court Order saying your child changed an existing legal name to a new legal name. The Child Name Change Costs in Arizona are not based on whether you’re changing just your child’s last name or whether you also change any part of the first or middle names too. Any part, even if it’s just one letter,… if you want your child’s name changed legally on ID, school registration and other Official Records, the process for that is called a “name change”.
It’s not that hard or expensive, even if you have someone help you with the process.
Summary of Costs to Change a Child’s Name
Some of the costs will depend on how many parents are signing the Name Change Application, what county your child lives in now, and how many Certified Copies you want. Here’s an approximate summary of what you need to spend if you have us do your Application and facilitate the court process, with FULL SERVICE, and both parents are signing the Application:
- EZ Full Service $190
- Court Filing $271 (avg) (Maricopa County is $333, all others are less)
- Other costs can apply. See below for those details
Total EZ Full Service Cost to Change Child’s Name is $461 (Avg. Maricopa is $523, all others are less). You will be asked to pay $115 of the total when you start and then $246 more after you return the signed Application in our Return Envelope.
Certified Copy $31 ea. (paid to the court, upon approval).
The Superior Court can waive their fees for Filing and Certified Copies if you qualify. With FULL SERVICE, we can help you with the forms to Request to Waive Court Costs, at no extra charge.
Categories of Costs to Change Your Child’s Name
There are 4 categories of Child Name Change Costs in Arizona:
- The Name Change Application Paperwork
- Court Filing
- Providing Legal Notifications
- Certified Copy of Order Changing Name (Court Order)
The Application For Change of Name documents
The “Application” is actually a set of 5-9 or more name change court forms. First, fill them all out and file them in a proper Superior Court. You can get blank forms, at no cost, from any Arizona Superior Court. Then, you can fill out all the forms yourself or you can have help to prepare it all for you.
EZ Full Service is $190 for Preparation, Filing and Customer Service throughout the process. You won’t have to spend any money to do everything yourself, but be prepared to spend a lot of time – It can take 10 to 20 hours or more. If your Petition isn’t complete, or if it is incorrectly prepared or filed, it can mean delays or denial.
Filing Your Application
The Arizona Courts charge a standard Filing Fee, which is subject to change at any time by the State. As of 2023, the costs in Arizona to file range from $218 to $333. The Maricopa Filing Fee is $333 but all others are less, and the average is $271.
Multiple children’s names can be changed in one Name Change Application Filing if they’re in the same family, live together, and the Application is prepared correctly. Also, filing costs don’t change whether one or both parents are signing the Application for Change of Name.
Legal Notification in Newspaper
If both parents are signing and consenting to a child’s name change, no newspaper notice is required. Likewise, if a non-consenting parent can be properly Served, it’s not required that a newspaper notice be published.
If a non-consenting parent CANNOT be Served, then you will likely be required to publish Notice of the Hearing in a qualified newspaper. In this situation, you would need to advertise in the County where you’re filing and, if it’s a different County, also in the County where the other parent was last known to live. If this applies, you’re going to have to check around for the best price when the time comes. Figure between $50 and $500, depending on your County and the publication you choose. $70-$125 is a reasonable range of costs to expect. If you use EZ Name Change Full Service to help with all this, we’ll use the most cost-effective, reliable newspaper and take care of all those arrangements for you. You will only need one ad, run correctly (once/wk for 4 weeks). You need to supply Proof of the publication in proper form to your judge prior to Approval.
Certified Copies
Upon Approval, a Court Clerk will stamp and Certify your Court Order after your judge signs it. Social Security, Birth Certificate, School, Passport, etc., will all ask you to show them a Certified Copy to prove that you changed Your Child’s Name, legally. Each Certified Copy costs $31, and you get them from the Clerk of that same court. You can order as many as you want. We recommend you get 2, or 3 if you’re going to get a birth certificate amended.
Serving a Parent
If both parents will be signing or consenting to the Legal Name Change, then there are no costs to Serve a Parent. IF NEEDED, this will cost $15 to $100 or more, depending on the specifics of your situation.
If only one parent is signing the Application for Change of Name, then the non-signing parent must either be Served or, if current address can’t be found, a newspaper notice(s) must be published with Proof of Publication to the court prior to Hearing.
To Serve a non-consenting Parent, you will need to have proper forms signed by that parent or, if that’s not possible, Service can be done by USPS Certified Mail (very specific method required), with Return Receipt proof provided to the judge in proper form and time frames.
More About How EZ Name Change Can Help
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