Changing Your Name in Texas

In Texas, a legal name change comes from a court order. An adult files a sworn petition, with fingerprints, in the county where the adult lives. A parent, managing conservator, or guardian files for a child in the county where the child lives, and a child 10 or older must consent in writing. A spouse who wants a former name back can ask for it inside the divorce or annulment itself. All three routes sit in chapter 45 of the Family Code, with the divorce rule repeated in section 6.706.

Three routes to a new legal name

Which path applies turns on who is changing names and why.

• An adult choosing any new name files a stand-alone petition under Subchapter B, sections 45.101 through 45.107.
• A child gets a new name through a petition brought by a parent, managing conservator, or guardian under Subchapter A, sections 45.001 through 45.005.
• A spouse returning to a name used before can request it in the divorce, annulment, or suit to declare the marriage void, with no separate case.

Every route ends in the same kind of document: a signed order or decree from a judge. Chapter 45 describes only court-ordered changes, and it is that paperwork the rest of this guide is about.

An adult name change, step by step

1. File in your county of residence

   Under section 45.101, an adult files in the county of the adult's place of residence. The statute does not set a filing fee, so the amount comes from the clerk of the court where the petition is filed.

2. Prepare a verified petition

   Section 45.102(a) requires the petition to be verified, meaning sworn to, and to state six things: your present name and place of residence, the full name you want, the reason for the change, whether you have a final felony conviction, and whether you are required to register as a sex offender under chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The sixth item is physical: a legible and complete set of your fingerprints on a card format that both the Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI accept.

3. Supply the identifying and criminal history details

   Section 45.102(b) adds a second list. The petition must give your full name, sex, race, date of birth, Social Security number, and the number of every driver's license issued to you in the 10 years before the petition. It must also give any FBI number, state identification number if known, or other criminal records reference number. Finally, it must list every offense above a Class C misdemeanor you have been charged with, plus the case number and court where a warrant issued or a charging instrument was filed. For any item left out, the petition must offer a reasonable explanation instead.

4. The judge rules on the petition

   For most adults the standard leans toward granting. Under section 45.103(a), when the petitioner has no final felony conviction and no registration duty, the court shall order the change if it is in the petitioner's interest or to the petitioner's benefit and also in the interest of the public. Chapter 45 does not say whether a hearing must be held, so whether you appear before the judge depends on the court's practice.

Chapter 45 also lets a party waive formal service of citation once the suit is on file. Under section 45.107, the waiver cannot carry a digitized signature, must list the signer's mailing address, and must be sworn before a notary who is not an attorney in the suit or written as an unsworn declaration meeting section 132.001 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

Felony convictions and sex-offender registration

Two groups fall outside the mandatory standard, and for them the law says the court may grant a change, never that it must.

A final felony conviction

Section 45.103(b) opens two doors. The first requires meeting the ordinary interest standard plus one of two conditions: a pardon, or at least two years since receiving a certificate of discharge from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or finishing court-ordered community supervision or juvenile probation. The second door is narrower and needs no waiting period: a request to change to the primary name used in the person's criminal history record information. That path lets someone line up a legal name with the name criminal records already carry.

Registered sex offenders

A person subject to chapter 62 registration may be granted a change under section 45.103(c) only with two showings. The person must meet the ordinary interest standard or be seeking the primary name in the criminal history record, and must give the court proof of having notified the appropriate local law enforcement authority about the proposed change.

Participants in the address confidentiality program

The law carves out protection for participants in the attorney general's address confidentiality program. If the petitioner attaches a copy of the program authorization card, section 45.102(c) excuses the street address and the reason for the change, and section 45.103(a-1) presumes the change meets the interest standard. Under section 45.103(c-1), the resulting order is confidential and the court may not release it to anyone, even after the person leaves the program. Readers dealing with family violence may also find the guide on Texas protective orders useful.

Changing a child's name

Under section 45.001, three kinds of people can file: a parent, a managing conservator, or a guardian. The petition goes to the county where the child resides, which can differ from where the parent filing it lives.

What the petition says, and the child's consent

Section 45.002(a) requires a verified petition listing the child's present name and residence, the reason for the request, the full name requested, whether the child is under the continuing exclusive jurisdiction of a court under chapter 155, and whether the child must register under chapter 62. When the child is 10 years of age or older, section 45.002(b) requires the child's written consent attached to the petition. Below that age the statute asks for no consent from the child.

Notice to the other parent

A child name change is not a one-parent decision on paper. Section 45.003 entitles three groups to citation: each parent whose parental rights have not been terminated, any managing conservator, and any guardian, with citation issued and served as chapter 102 provides. A party can sign a waiver under section 45.0031, which must be sworn before a notary who is not an attorney in the case unless the signer is incarcerated. Who counts as a legal parent matters here; for a child born outside marriage, the guide on establishing paternity in Texas explains how a father becomes one.

The best interest test

Under section 45.004(a), the court may order the change if it is in the best interest of the child. The statute names no factors, so what weighs most is up to the judge and the evidence in the case. For a child subject to registration, the change must also serve the public interest, and the petitioner must prove the child notified local law enforcement. When a court already has continuing jurisdiction over the child, section 45.004(b) requires the court to send a copy of the order to the central record file under chapter 108.

Returning to a former name in a divorce

A spouse who wants a prior name back does not need a second lawsuit. Under section 6.706(a), in a decree of divorce or annulment, the court shall change the name of a party who specifically requests it to a name that party previously used, unless the decree states a reason for refusing. Section 45.105(a) says much the same and extends it to a suit to declare a marriage void. Both sections add one limit on that discretion: a judge may not refuse solely to keep family members' last names the same.

Two practical points follow from the text. The request must actually be made, since the duty runs to a party who specifically asks. And the rule covers only a name used before, such as a birth name or a name from an earlier marriage. A brand-new name falls outside section 6.706 and would go through the adult petition described above. The guide on how divorce works in Texas covers the rest of the case, from residency to the final decree.

After the order: proof, records, and old obligations

The change of name certificate

A person whose name changed in a divorce, annulment, or void-marriage decree can ask the clerk of the court that ordered it for a change of name certificate under section 45.106. It is a one-page document showing the old name, the new name, the date of the change, the person's Social Security number and driver's license number if any, the court, and the clerk's signature. The fee is $10, and section 45.106(d) makes the certificate proof of the change. As written, the certificate is tied to sections 6.706 and 45.105; the statute does not offer it for a name changed by a stand-alone petition, where the signed order itself is the record.

Updating Social Security, a driver license, and other records

A court order does not update federal or state records by itself. The Social Security Administration, the agency that issues Texas driver licenses and ID cards, the passport office, banks, and employers each run their own process and set their own document rules, and those rules can change without any act of the Legislature. Each agency publishes its own current list of what it accepts as proof of a court-ordered name change, and this guide does not restate those lists.

Debts and rights follow you

A new name does not wipe the slate. Section 45.104 provides that an adult name change does not release liability incurred under the previous name or defeat any right held under it, and section 45.005 says the same for a child. Section 6.706(c) applies the rule to a name restored in a divorce. Contracts, judgments, and debts stay attached to the person, and so do property, benefits, and claims.

Costs, help, and related guides

Chapter 45 names only one dollar figure, the $10 certificate. Filing costs come from the clerk of the court where the petition is filed, and chapter 45 does not say where fingerprints must be taken or what that costs. Cases with a felony history, a registration duty, or an objecting parent are fact-heavy, and a lawyer can explain how a particular court tends to handle them; free legal help in Texas lists organizations that may assist at no charge. Every statute section on this page links to the official Family Code text, the same sourcing standard our guides to Texas law holds to on each topic. For custody, support, and the other parent-child issues that often come up alongside a name change, browse the Texas family law guides.