Family & Safety

Complete the following forms to change your child's name:

• Request for Name Change (Minor Children): Asks the judge to change your child's name.
  • If you are trying to change the names of more than four children, also use Request for Name Change -Additional Children
• Request for Name Change - Child Information: Gives the judge information about your child. You will need to complete one for each child.
• Order for Name Change (Minor Children): The judge will sign this to approve or deny To refuse or say no your request. You will need one for each child. You will need this to change your child's name on your child's birth certificate A legal document with a person's place of birth, time of birth, and parents , social security card, and other documents.
• Cover sheet: some counties like Cook county require a cover sheet.

If there is more than one other parent or a non-parent with physical custody of the child, also complete Request for Name Change -Additional Parent.

Other forms may need to be filled out regarding notice of this case to the other parent or a non-parent who has custody of the child if they will not consent When someone gives permission for someone else to do something to the name change and sign the Request for Name Change - Child Information form. Choose the one most applicable:

• Notice of Court Date for Request of Name Change (Minor Children): Tells your child's other parent or a non-parent with physical custody that you have filed a request with the court to change your child's name. 
• Publication Notice of Court Date for Request for Name Change (Minor Children): if you do not know where the other parent is located.  Your request to change the child's name will be published in a newspaper for three weeks.
• Motion to Waive Notice & Publication (Request for Name Change) and Order on Motion to Waive Notice & Publication: these forms can be used in specific situations to ask the judge to let you change the child's name without notifying the other parent or publishing the request. Situations include:
  • If you believe that notifying the other parent or publication would put the child at risk for hardship (such as physical harm, discrimination, harassment, bullying, or threats of violence); 
  • The child has or has previously had an Order of Protection A document from a judge that tells an abuser to stop further domestic abuse, or face penalties , Stalking When a person follows someone, watches them outside their home or office, or tells them things they observed them doing No Contact Order, Civil No Contact Order, or Protective Order issued in someone else’s criminal case; or
  • The child is a protected person under someone else’s bail Money paid to insure that a person will show up to court conditions.

If you opt to file the Motion to Waive Notice & Publication (Request for Name Change), file it with the Request for Name Change. Ask the clerk if a separate court date must be scheduled for this motion. Typically however, the judge will decide whether to grant this motion at your court date for the name change. If they grant the waiver A document that gives up a legal right or excuses a requirement , then the judge will then decide whether or not to grant the name change request itself. If the judge does not grant your motion to waive, then you will have to publish notice and a new court date will be schedule to decide on the name change.

Note that if you or a member of your household are at risk of domestic violence Harm by one household or family member against another household or family member. Harm may be an emotional, mental, or physical injury , stalking, or sexual assault When a person commits an act of sexual penetration by force or threat of force. Done without the consent of the victim. This includes when the victim cannot give consent. , you do not have to disclose your address on these forms. You can use an alternate address.  

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After you fill out your forms, sign them and make three copies of each one.

Now that you have filled out your forms, you need to file them with the appropriate circuit clerk. You will need to electronically file ("e-file") them unless you have an exemption. 

There are fees to file many court forms, especially when starting a case. Fees are different from case to case and county to county. Contact the circuit clerk to find out about their fees. Many circuit clerks list their fees on their website. 

If you qualify, you can get a Fee waiver. A fee waiver allows you to file for free, or at a reduced cost.

When you file your name change forms, you'll need a hearing When the parties in a case present their sides of a case to a judge or other officer date.

How you will find out about the court date (or hearing date) and time depends on how you filed your case.

• E-filing Short for "electronic filing." You file court papers using a computer instead of handing them to the clerk in person. This is required in Illinois as of 1/1/18. : The website you used to electronically file may let you pick your court date (or hearing date) and time. If it does not, contact the clerk. 
• Paper filing: If you filed in person at the courthouse, the clerk will let you pick or they may pick for you.

If the child's other parent agrees to the name change and signs the Request for Name Change in front of a notary, you can skip this step and move to step 5. 

If you filed a Motion to Waive To give up a legal right or pardon a fee Notice & Publication (Request for Name Change) with your name change request, the judge will decide whether or not to grant this at your hearing When the parties in a case present their sides of a case to a judge or other officer so you can skip this step. If the judge says at the hearing you must notify the other parent or publish a notice in a newspaper, you can come back to this step.

There are two ways to give notice to the other parent or any non-parent with physical custody of the child, if you know where they live:

• Via certified mail A document delivery service such as the US Postal Service that sends a party a receipt as proof that the documents were mailed and delivered , return receipt Proof of delivery with the recipient's signature, and the date and time of delivery requested, or
• Service of process by the sheriff A county officer who can serve people with summons. They can evict someone with a court order. .

If you cannot find the other person, you can publish your notice in the newspaper.

Certified mail [/no-lexicon]

If the child's other parent is not going to sign the Request for Name Change, but you know where they live, you can mail a copy of the Request for Name Change forms and the Notice of Court Date for Request of Name Change (Minor A person under 18 years old Children) to their address. You should mail these documents by USPS Certified Mail with return receipt requested (green card; PS Form 3811). If you do not know where the child's other parent lives, you must send a copy to the child's other parent's last known address. 

When you get the green return receipt back, make a copy for yourself.  File the original with the circuit clerk The office that takes care of files and documents for circuit court cases , and have the clerk file stamp your copy.

Service of process by the sheriff

Ask the sheriff in the county where the person to be notified lives to give them your forms and notice. You may have to file a fee or provide the fee waiver A document that lets someone file court papers for free or at a reduced cost. . When the documents have been served on the other person, the sheriff will fill out an Affidavit of Service A written statement signed under oath. It describes where, when, and how a person received court documents. and file it with the circuit clerk or mail it to you. If it was sent to the circuit clerk, call the clerk to find out if it has been filed and how to get a copy. If it was sent to you, make a copy and file the original with the circuit clerk. Ask the clerk to file stamp your copy.

Publication in a newspaper

If you do not know where the child's other parent lives after filing your court papers and getting a hearing date, you may be able to publish the notice in your local newspaper.  Contact a local newspaper in the county where you live and ask them to publish notice of your child's name change. The notice must run once a week for three weeks straight, with the first time being at least six weeks before the court date.

Give them one copy of the Publication Notice of Court Date for Request for Name Change (Minor Children).  If you also have an order for a fee waiver, give that to them as well. However, note that the newspaper is not required to waive or reduce the fee for publication.  You can file a motion asking the judge to pay the cost of the publication. 

After your notice has run in the newspaper once a week for three straight weeks, get a Certificate of Publication from the newspaper. Ask the newspaper how they will send this certificate. They may:

• Send the certificate directly to the circuit clerk,
• Mail the certificate directly to you, or
• Tell you to pick up the certificate in person.

File your Certificate of Publication before your court hearing. If you're in Cook county, you will just need to bring it to your hearing (see the next step).

If the newspaper sends the certificate directly to the circuit clerk, make sure it arrives before your court hearing and ask the newspaper to send you a copy.

Some counties allow an option to hold the hearing When the parties in a case present their sides of a case to a judge or other officer over Zoom (remote appearance A form that lets the plaintiff and the court know the defendant is participating in the case. It can also be when a person shows up to their court hearing. ) or by telephone. Some require an in-person hearing.

If you are in person, get to court at least 45 minutes before your hearing time. Unless you've been told not to by court staff, bring your children with you.

Bring these items to your court hearing:

• Copies of all the documents you filed with the Circuit clerk The office that takes care of files and documents for circuit court cases ;
• Photo ID;
• Children's birth certificates;
• Order for Name Change (Minor A person under 18 years old Children) for each child; 
• Other papers related to your child’s name change, like the green return receipt Proof of delivery with the recipient's signature, and the date and time of delivery mail card that proves you told the child's other parent about the hearing; and
• Any other documents you want the judge to look at (like criminal records).

Check in quietly with the judge's clerk. Wait for your name and case number A number assigned to a case that is on every paper filed in the case to be called.

You may be placed under oath. Answer A written statement used to respond to the complaint or petition in a lawsuit the judge's questions truthfully. The judge will either grant or deny To refuse or say no your request. The judge will write this on your Order for Name Change (Minor Children) and sign it.

When you testify To answer questions under oath , your testimony Evidence given orally by witnesses should include:

• The child's full name (first, middle, and last)
• The child's current address, including city and state
• The state or county where the child was born
• How long the child has lived in Illinois
• The full name (first, middle, and last) that you would like the court to give the child
• Why the name change is in the child's best interest

If your child's name change is approved, give the judge your Order for Change of Name (Minor A person under 18 years old Children)  form to be signed. Once the judge has signed it you must file it with the circuit clerk The office that takes care of files and documents for circuit court cases . You should get three certified copies from the clerk's office, usually for a small fee. You'll need these to change the child's birth certificate A legal document with a person's place of birth, time of birth, and parents and social security card. 

If your child was born in Illinois, you can change your child's birth certificate by mail to the Illinois Department of Public Health. To change your child's Illinois birth certificate, you will need:

• Required application;
• A certified copy A copy of a document that can be used instead of the original because an official has approved it as a true and accurate copy by signing it. of the Order for Change of Name (Minor Children);
• A copy of government-issued photo ID;
• A copy of your child's original birth certificate, and
• A money order for $15.00 made out to Illinois Department of Public Health.

Mail these three things to:

Illinois Department of Public Health
Division of Vital Records
925 East Ridgely Ave.
Springfield, IL 62702-2737
(217) 782-6554
Visit Vital chek

If your child was born in a state other than Illinois, contact the office that keeps birth records in that state to find out how to change the name on your child's birth certificate. To change your child’s social security card, go to the nearest social security office and fill out an application.

To change your child's name on your child's social security card, you will need:

• The child's new birth certificate;
• The child's original social security card; and
• A certified copy of the Order for Change of Name signed by the judge.