Adult Name Change for New York Residents
Adult Name Change in New York for Residents Over 18 Years Old
Adult Name Change in New York Information & Help
For Adult Name Change, prepare a collection of Forms called a Name Change and/or Sex Designation Change Petition for Individual Adult. File them with the Supreme Court for the County where you live now. You can file in your County Supreme Court (or City (Manhattan only) Civil Court). The Court will review your documents and either Grant the Petition, set a Hearing and/or require further documents, or can deny it. Your judge gets all your information from the completed Petition and, based on that review, may or may not have questions for you to address. Upon Granting and completion of required Notices (if any), you can get Certified Copy(s), for updating ID and Official Records. Learn more about how to name change in New York.
Social Security, DMV, Passports and other government and financial entities want you to show them a Certified Copy of your Court Order when you ask them to Change Your Name and give you updated documents with Your New Legal Name.
With EZ Name Change Full Service, you will also have us available to answer questions all the way through the process.
Adult Name Change in New York takes between 3 weeks and 3 months (depending on how many complications you may have in Criminal or Family history, and the Court’s scheduling caseload) to get your Court Order, from the day you start to the day you have your Court Order, upon approval. It will take just 5-10 minutes to complete our Questionnaire. EZ Name Change takes 1 business day to review your information, properly prepare a complete Petition customized to Your Court’s local requirements and your particular Name Change. Then you’ll need to sign in a few places and have your signature notarized. We’ll file the signed Petition and then get you a complete email REPORT so you have copies of the documents on file and details of Completing the Court process, including getting your Certified Copy(s) of the Order Granting Name Change upon approval.
Your Hearing and decision can be delayed if your Petition is incomplete, inaccurate or your background raises questions that may require further information or documentation. When everything needed by your judge and court are properly submitted, the process can go more quickly and smoothly.
$415 – Total cost for Full Service Adult Name Change in New York. You don’t pay that total amount up front. With EZ Name Change Full Service, you will answer some questions first, and then be asked to pay $115 of the Total amount with any debit or credit card. You will pay $5.00 for Notarization, before you return the signed Petition. After we get your Petition, we’ll send you an email invoice to pay $285 more for Full Service Filing. Almost all of that goes to pay the Court Filing Fees. You’ll need to pay another $10 (for 2 Certified Copies, $5.00 each) to the Court for your Certified Copies of the Order, upon approval. Court Costs can be waived if you qualify because of low income (ask us about court fee waiver forms if you think you may qualify). For more complete details, click here: Adult Name Change Costs in New York.
All New York Name Change Courts allow Adult Name Change Fee waiver requests. If you can’t afford to pay the court fees and also be able to pay your basic monthly living expenses, you can ask the court to File without paying filing costs. The court makes that decision, if you submit all the right request documentation, along with a properly completed set of Name Change Petition forms.
You likely won’t be allowed a fee waiver merely because you don’t want to pay, or even because your financial circumstances are difficult. Rather, you must swear, upon penalty of perjury, that you are unable to pay the court costs unless the court grants your request. You will be required to sign an affidavit supporting a request for “poor person status” sufficient to meet the standards set out in the law (specifically, Section 1101 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules) .
If you want EZ Name Change to help with your Fee Waiver request and Name Change Petition, we will prepare the court documents correctly, including for the Fee Waiver request, without any extra charges. You just need to let us know you want to apply for Court Fee Waivers after you complete the Questionnaire, and then supply the additional answers we need for that.
For Adult Name Change, any truthful reason that doesn’t cause deceit, harm or fraudulently deprive anyone of any right under the law is likely to be an acceptable one. See the Top 5 Reasons to Change Your Name
To give you some relative perspective:
In 2004, a Missouri man succeeded in changing his name to “They”. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that a name change to “1069” could be denied, but that “Ten Sixty-Nine” was acceptable (Application of Dengler, 1979).
Courts won’t likely allow you to get a name that is intended to mislead, that is intentionally confusing, or that incites violence. Don’t expect to be granted if you request, as a new legal name, a racial slur, a threat, or an obscenity. If your reason for Name Change is to deceive, provoke or confuse people, a court may not allow you to take that name as your legal name.
Yes, but it’s relatively rare.
If your documents are incomplete or substantially incorrect, or if you don’t file in the correct court, don’t expect approval. For those of you with significant unresolved histories of criminal, family and/or financial trouble, you may want to consult an attorney for advice before Petitioning. If the judge thinks your name change may cause fraud, harm or injury, or other damage to people or the community, you will likely face added scrutiny and/or denial. The Court may dismiss your case if you are required to appear, provide additional documentation or take further steps, but fail to comply.
Your Petition approval should happen if you follow all the Name Change rules, use all the right forms and the correct court, and if you aren’t trying to get away with something or cause harm . Of course, your judge will always be the one to make that decision. And, you do actually have to Start Your Name Change Petition…to make Your Name Change a reality!
If you want ID or Official Records updated to get your name exactly right on everything, you will probably need a Court Order to do it. To see if you can skip the Court Order Process, try this: For a small change to Your Name with Social Security, or School, or DMV, or Passport, go there, fill out their application and just ask them to make the little change you want. Try Social Security first because they’re considered an “anchor” ID for the other agencies. If they will make the change in their records for you, then you didn’t need a Court Order for that one. If they tell you to get a court order, then you need a “Legal Name Change Document”. At the end of the Legal Name Change process, upon approval, you’ll get an Order from the New York Supreme Court, more formally called “Order Granting Name Change and/or Sex Designation Change for Individual Adult”. A Certified Copy of that Court Order is a Name Change Document honored everywhere, including for Social Security, Real ID, Passports and Professional Licenses.
Even if you want just one letter changed, or even if you just want your first name changed around with your middle name…those are all Legal Name Changes as far as ID and Official Records are concerned. EZ Name Change can help you make that happen, with Full Service.
When you Petition for a Change of Name, you can propose changing your name just a little, a lot, or completely. A Court Order is required for any change in Your Legal Name, not just a big change. If you want a government, financial or commercial agency, or anyone else, to be required to honor Your Name the way you want it to be, the Court Order is your best solution. Some places won’t do it unless you bring them a properly Certified Order from a New York Supreme (or other equally authorized) Court.
All the government agencies will issue you updated ID when you supply them with a Name Change Court Order. They will ask you to hand them a Certified Copy, which you will get at the end of this process upon approval of a judge. All 50 states honor the Certified, New York Order Granting Name Change. The US Federal Government, and other governments honor it too.
A LOT of people are born with one name, but grow up using another name. Since 9/11, that situation has become a problem with Licensing, Registration, Security, Employment and other 21st century considerations. Clean up, and clear up those problems with a Petition for Change of Name. The successful end of that process puts a Certified Court Order in your hands. You must do it all correctly. Then just take a Certified Copy of your Order Granting Name Change to whoever is flagging you…and the problem will end.
This kind of problem didn’t start with 9/11. Americans have always been having name changes or variations when growing up. The 38th President of the United States was born Leslie Lynch King. You’ve never heard of President King though. That’s because he legally changed his name to Gerald Ford as an adult. President Gerald Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King Jr, grew up using the name Gerald Ford, and then legally changed his name to Gerald Ford before he entered the military and politics. The rest is history. There are MANY other stories just like this one.
With EZ Name Change Full Service, your legal name change may take between 1-3 months, depending on the complexities of your unresolved criminal, financial and/or marital history, and about $415 (Total, including Full Service and Court fees). Court Order Name Change fixes the problem. Legally and permanently. But it will take you forever, unless you actually Get Started!
Can I take my Maiden Name back if I’m still married?
Yes. Many women and some men want to retake their Maiden Name without divorce. People often Restore a Maiden Name for Career or Professional Purposes. If your spouse has died, you may want your birth name back. You may prefer the independence of having your own (not a shared) last name. There are many good reasons for taking your maiden name back. Divorce IS NOT a requirement to retake a Maiden, or any other formerly held legal name.
A Petition for Name Change will accomplish your desired Maiden Name Change, upon approval by a judge, and without a divorce. Just correctly prepare your Petition, process it properly, comply with the New York Name Change laws and you should be fine.
You can have EZ Name Change Full Service to retake a Maiden Name.
After divorce, are Name Change costs and time frames the same as any other Name Change?
If you restored your Maiden Name in your divorce, before it was final, and your Maiden (or other former legal name) was printed out and made part of your divorce judgment, then you should be able to take a Certified Copy of that divorce judgment to Social Security and the other ID agencies to get your Maiden Name on your ID WITHOUT needing another Court Order. If you didn’t change your name back during your divorce, then you can still do that by completing the Petition process now. You’ll get, upon approval, another type of Court Order (Order Granting Name Change). That Court Order will allow you to make the Name Change you want on all your ID and Official Records.
More detailed information about the Costs of Name Change in New York
After I get married, can I Change My Name if I change my mind about my Married Name?
Yes! You may have taken your spouse’s last name and now want your maiden last name back. Or, you may have kept your maiden name and now want to take your spouse’s last name or a combination of your name. Those situations happen all the time and can be fixed exactly the way you want through the Name Change Court Order Process. Bottom line….you can absolutely Change Your Name After Marriage, legally, to exactly the one you want it to be, regardless of the choice you made at the time you filled out the marriage license.
This is a common problem. Getting a Name Change Document (Court Order) is the solution.
Delays, aggravation, and other trouble can be caused, in different financial, travel, security, employment and other situations, if your ID isn’t consistent with your Name. You may have experienced some of that. The Court Process can clear all that up, fully, upon Approval for an Order Granting Name Change.
Decide which spelling of your whole name is exactly the way you want it. Then, prepare, complete and file a Petition for Name Change. Upon approval, you’ll get an “Order Granting Name Change and/or Sex Designation Change for Individual Adult” from the New York Supreme Court. It will authorize the exact name you wanted to be printed across all your ID and Official Records. It’s an official Name Change Document. With EZ Full Service, you can go through that court process smoothly and efficiently, and, upon approval, it’s very satisfying to have your name be exactly the way you want, everywhere.
It’s a good idea to have one name, for every legal purpose. You can have pet names, nicknames, stage names, or any sort of informal name you want. But, in the 21st Century, you should choose one name you want, officially, as Your Legal Name. Then, get a Court Order establishing that and change over your ID and other Official Records to they all match. When you do that, all the delay, aggravation and other trouble about your Name ID will go away. Some Official Records can, but don’t need to be changed, such as Citizenship Certificates or Birth Certificates, Diplomas, etc. Those things can remain in your “old or former” name without confusion. If someone has a question about your name on those documents being different from your name in real life, you can just explain about your Legal Name Change or show a copy of your Court Order. But your Social Security, Driver’s License, Passport, Main Bank and Professional Licensing should all be in your one, legal name.
When the headache of getting flagged for variations of your legal name is gone, you probably won’t notice it. But, you’re going to smile every time you remember the hassle it used to be.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
EZ Name Change New York
Providing Services in All 62 New York Counties
Only EZ Name Change Specializes in Legal Name Change for New York residents of 6 months or longer. We are Name Change Specialists. We have Full Service Name Change help available in all of New York’s 62 Counties.
