Obtaining a name change can feel overwhelming. There are a number of steps that must be followed and lots of paperwork before you can make your name change is official. But don’t worry, Our attorneys have handled hundreds of name changes and we can help you.
Here, you will get answers to your most frequently asked questions about getting a name change in Nevada.
Do you have a nickname you have been known by your whole life?
Maybe you have been spelling your name differently than the name listed on your birth certificate.
Or…
You just want to change your first, middle and/or last name because you like a new name better.
Generally, unless you undergo a formal name change, your name is not legal and won’t be recognized by most government entities such as DMV, Social Security or even TSA.
A legal name change is the formal changing of an individual’s name, by court order, from the name stated on his or her birth certificate, to another name of his or her choosing.
On the other hand, an assumed name, is defined as the “open and notorious” use of a name. In some jurisdictions, an assumed name can be registered with a county clerk, secretary of state, or other similar government authority. Assumed names are generally used for business related purposes like “a doing business as” or “DBA.”
A common law name, a name used for non-fraudulent purposes is a legal name. While a common law names may not be an official name in many jurisdiction, most people can sue under a common law name. In some jurisdictions like California, changing a name at will under common law, is sufficient to change the name. You will need to check with your jurisdiction to see if common law names are legal names.
A preferred name is exactly like the examples we used above. A preferred name may be recognized by a college, hospital or other institution but it is not a legal name. Preferred names provide a “transitional” name change for those who have yet to, or cannot, receive a court-ordered name change.
People change their name for lots of different reasons. The most popular reasons for a name change include:
A person can change their name for any reason they want.
In Nevada, if you want a legal name change in Nevada you MUST file a petition with the Court.
You must be a Nevada resident to file your name change in Nevada. This means you must have lived in Nevada for a period of time and intend to continue living in Nevada once your name change is final.
And depending on whether the person changing their name is an adult, a child, has a criminal history and/or wants to change their gender marker, the requirements to make a name change official may be different.
For the purposes of this section, the Nevada name change laws can be found in the Nevada Revised Statutes at NRS 41.270 through NRS 41.298.
The basic requirements for filing a name change in Nevada are:
A person can change their name for any reason they want.
In Nevada, if you want a legal name change you MUST file a petition with the Court.
You must be a Nevada resident to file your name change in Nevada. This means you must have lived in Nevada for a period of time and intend to continue living in Nevada once your name change is final.
And depending on whether the person changing their name is an adult, a child, has a criminal history and/or wants to change their gender marker, the requirements to make a name change official may be different.
For the purposes of this section, the Nevada name change laws can be found in the Nevada Revised Statutes at NRS 41.270 through NRS 41.298.
The basic requirements for filing a name change in Nevada are:
This is the question that usually causes most people the most heartburn.
As family law attorneys, for the us, the process is fairly straight forward.
However, if you are trying to do a name change on your own, the process can seem overwhelming.
But don’t worry. . .
We’ve laid out the process for a simple adult name change step by step here.
Since we are name change lawyers in Las Vegas, Nevada much of the information we include in this section will relate to name changes being completed in Clark County, Nevada.
While there may be some differences for your specific jurisdiction, if you live outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, the general idea is the same.
Before you begin filing paperwork, you will need the following documents to complete your name change if you are filing in Las Vegas, Nevada:
If you decide not to hire a Las Vegas lawyer to help you with your name change, you can get the name change paperwork from the Clark County Self Help Center.
Once you have filled out all of the paperwork above, you will take your Family Court Cover Sheet, Petition for Name Change, Notice of Petition for Name Change and the Declaration and file it with the clerk at the Eighth Judicial District Court, Family Division.
Don’t forget that there is a filing fee of $270 in Clark County for name changes.
You will take your filed Notice of Petition for Name Change and send it to either the Las Vegas Review Journal or Nevada Legal News for publication. The publication period lasts for ten (10) days.
Once the publication period is over, the newspaper will send you an Affidavit of Publication. You will need to file the Affidavit of Publication with the Court before the judge will sign the name change order.
File your Request for Summary Disposition and submit your Order for Name Change to the judge assigned to your case.
The judge will review all of the paperwork you have filed and decide whether or not to grant the name change.
If the name change is granted, you will receive a signed Order for Name Change back from the judge. This document must be filed as this is what makes the name change official.
If the judge doesn’t grant the name change, the judge may instruct you to follow additional steps, file additional paperwork or attend a hearing to ask questions about the name change.
Yes. You can get a name change in Nevada even with a criminal record.
Here are the steps for a name change if you have a felony record:
First, fill out the paperwork we identified above including: the cover sheet, petition for name change, notice of name change, request for summary disposition and declaration.
Follow the steps we identified above to fill out your paperwork except you will need to disclose that you have a felony conviction.
In your petition, you will need to identify the date of your felony conviction, the felony charge you were convicted of, the city and state where you were convicted and a case number if possible.
In addition to all of the paperwork above, you will need to be fingerprinted twice.
Not sure where to get fingerprinted? Most local police substations will allow you to have your fingerprints taken.
One set of fingerprints must be submitted when you submit your name change petition.
You may need to attend a hearing to explain to the judge why you want your name changed if you have a felony conviction.
Essentially, the judge may want to be sure you aren’t changing your name to avoid warrants or for other nefarious purposes.
Finally, once your name change is granted, you will need to submit your order granting the name change and your second set of fingerprints to the Central Repository of Nevada Records of Criminal History.
Child name changes in Nevada can be tricky if both parents don’t agree to the name change.
Before you file the paperwork to change your child’s name, make sure the other parent is agreeable to the name change or that you have terminated the other parent’s rights or the you have sole legal and physical custody.
If both parents agree to the name change, or you are not required by law to notify the other parent of the name change, great!
Fill out the paperwork including the family court cover sheet, petition for child name change, notice of petition for child name change, request for summary disposition and declaration, and the order.
If your child is over the age of 14, your child will also need to sign a declaration saying that they agree to the name change.
It is important to remember that a child cannot change their name on their own. They must have a parent, preferably both parents, petition for the name change.
If only one parent wants the name change and the other parent does not agree, you will need to personally serve the objecting parent with a copy of the child name change petition. If you are unable to personally serve the objecting parent, you will need to serve the petition through publication.
The objecting parent has 10 days from the time they are served to file a written objection with the Court explaining why they oppose the child’s name change.
If a written objection is filed, the Court will have a hearing. At the hearing, the Court will hear argument and testimony and decide whether or not to grant the name change.
Family name changes are routinely done in our office.
It is not unusual that a family will want to change their entire last name. This usually occurs for religious or ethnicity reasons.
Regardless of the reason, you may change your entire family’s name in one petition.
The family members must be residents of Nevada in order to qualify for a Nevada name change. Although our office has been able to secure family name changes when not all of the family members live in Nevada.
If everyone is a resident and all family members are adults, you can simply prepare your cover sheet, petition, notice of name change petition, request for summary disposition and order. Each family member included in the petition must sign a declaration consenting to the name change.
If you have minor child and you want to do a family name change, both parents have to agree to the name change. If the child is over the age of 14, the child will also need to sign a consent to the name change. If the parents don’t agree, you will need to follow the steps above for serving the objecting parent and having a hearing for the Nevada name change.
Changing your name after a divorce doesn’t have to be complicated.
In fact, if you are the divorced wife, you have two options for a name change after a divorce.
First, if you are the ex-wife and you requested a name change in your original paperwork but forgot to include the name change in the Divorce Decree, you can simply submit an amended decree of divorce or a Decree of Divorce Nunc Pro Tunc.
BEWARE: In divorce decrees, Nevada law only allows a wife to revert to a maiden name or the name by which the wife was previously known. If you are the husband you cannot change your name through a divorce decree. If you are wife and want to change anything other than your last name, you will need to file a formal name change petition.
In your amended divorce decree, you will need to re-type your entire decree of divorce and add a paragraph that allows you to change back to your maiden name or a former name. Make sure to bold this paragraph so that the judge knows you are only adding the name change and not changing anything else.
Submit your decree of divorce to your judge along with a letter explaining that you requested the name change in the original divorce paperwork but forgot to include it in the Divorce Decree.
The judge will review your paperwork and if the judge agrees, the judge will sign your amended decree of divorce.
If the judge does not agree, the judge may ask for additional information or hold a hearing to ask questions about the name change.
Your other option is to file a new case for a formal name change as we described above.
Changing your name and gender marker is not very different from doing an adult name change.
You will need to file the same paperwork as you would for an Adult Name Change. This includes filing your Family Court Cover Sheet, Petition for Name Change, Notice of Petition for Name Change, Request for Summary Disposition, Declaration and Order For Name Change.
In your Petition for Name Change be sure to include that you want to change your gender marker.
If you are changing your name and gender marker you DO NOT need to publish the Notice of Petition For Name Change.
Instead, simply submit your Order for Name Change to the judge for review. Be sure to include in your order that you want Vital Statistics to issue a new birth certificate if you are changing your gender if you were born in Nevada.
That’s it! Once you have your signed Order for Name Change, your name change and gender marker change are complete.
Once you have your name change order, the name change is official but you aren’t done yet!
The Court DOES NOT send your name change order to government entities, banks, schools or others! It is your responsibility to change your name with DMV, Social Security and other entities.
In addition to changing your name with DMV and Social Security you should also consider making your name change official with the following:
Voter Registration. Some states allow you to change voter registration at the DMV. Make sure to bring a certified copy of your name change order with you to DMV.
State Department. Update your US Passport with your new name. Again, you will likely need to have your driver’s license or State ID with your new name, a social security card with your new name and a certified copy of your name change order.
Employers and Unions. Don’t forget to provide your employer a copy of your new ID and name change order for your employment file and be sure to give any unions a copy as well. Failing to change your name can affect your union benefits as well as other employment benefits.
Bank records and other financial institutions. Be sure your bank knows you have officially changed your name. Again, you may need to provide certified copies of the name change. Also make sure any savings accounts, investment accounts and retirement accounts reflect your new name. Finally, if you are the beneficiary of any accounts, you should also make sure your official name change is registered with these accounts.
While this is not a definitive list of things to do after your receive your order granting your name change, this is a good place to start.
If you are filing your name change in Clark County, Nevada, the filing fee alone is $270. Yup! $270 just to file your paperwork with the Court.
In addition to the filing fees, you should expect to pay at least $100 for publishing your name change.
There may be additional fees for notary services and court runner fees if you are doing the name change yourself.
If you hire a Las Vegas attorney, usually the total fees include the costs for filing the paperwork, notary fees and the publication costs.
Beware of anyone telling you they can do a name change for $150. This usually means you are paying a notary or paralegal NOT a lawyer. It is highly likely that this does not include filing fees and publication costs. For $150 you might find yourself do most, if not ALL of the work to get your name changed.
Costs for attorneys to handle a name change vary from law firm to law firm but you can expect to spend anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on how complicated your case is.
At our firm, our fees generally start out relatively low for adult uncontested name changes and will increase for family name changes, contested minor child name changes or name changes involving felony convictions.
For more information about our fees and costs for a Nevada name change call us at (702) 433-2889 or fill out our on-line form.
Like we said, filing a name change doesn’t have to be complicated.
It is important to find an attorney who can best represent your interests.
But what kind of lawyer should you hire and where do you start?
In this section, we outline how you can find the best family law attorney to help with your name change.
Our office gets calls and inquiries from all over the world from people who want to change their name.
While we’d love to be able to help everyone, we are only licensed in Nevada. This means we can only help people who qualify for a Nevada name change.
So before you begin calling family law attorneys who will just pass you off because they can’t help, you need to figure out where to file your name change.
Typically, name change petitions are filed in the district (city or county) where the person applying for the name change lives.
Even though our office has successfully filed family name change petitions for family members who do not necessarily live in Las Vegas, the majority of the family members did reside in Nevada.
Likewise, if you are filing a child name change, you will need to file in the jurisdiction where your child has resided for the last 6 months.
Once you have decided where to file to your name change your search for an attorney can begin.
After you’ve decided on the right venue for your case, begin to research prospective attorneys in your area.
Online research is one place to start.
There are many, many websites devoted to identifying lawyers in various specialties including family law and name changes.
Websites like Avvo, Findlaw and even Yelp offer profiles, breakdown lawyer specialties and provide reviews.
Just remember that like anything else, the internet isn’t always 100% accurate in depicting a lawyer’s knowledge or capabilities.
This is why, in addition to looking on-line, we suggest that you ask family and friends for recommendations.
If you have an attorney for other matters such as a personal injury case or estate planning, you might want to ask them for a referral. Be specific with them and tell them you want a lawyer that specializes in name changes.
Finally, you should always check your state bar’s website to ensure that any attorney you find is actively licensed to practice law and has not been the subject of bar discipline.
Once you’ve identified a few family law attorneys, call their office and ask questions about your name change.
When you talk to prospective lawyers consider questions like:
The answer to all of these questions should be “yes.” If it is not, then this lawyer is probably not a good fit for you.
If you think you have found a lawyer that meshes well with you and your needs you will want to be sure the lawyer can work within your budget.
After all finding a lawyer that’s a great fit won’t work if you cant afford the legal fees.
And…most attorneys are accustomed to discussing fees and costs for name changes over the phone.
If you have the Las Vegas name change lawyer that fits, that you trust and like and that fits in your budget, move forward and get your name changed!
If you got married and now want to change your name, chances are you wont have to go through the name change process described above.
If you want to change your name after you married, you will need to bring a certified marriage certificate with you. For example, if you want to change your name on your driver’s license to your married name, you will need to bring your current ID and a certified marriage certificate.
The marriage license issued before the wedding ceremony will not be sufficient. You must present proof of your certified marriage certificate to legally change to your married name.
Changing your child’s last name is a little more complicated than the process we identified in part one of this article. You will still need to file a petition and publish the notice and the same time limits apply to a child name change as they do to an adult name change.
However, to change your child’s name it is strongly recommended that you must have the consent of both parents.If you cannot obtain the other parent’s consent, you can still pursue a name change for your child but it is likely to be a complicated process.
If you have sole legal and sole physical custody of your child, it is likely your child’s name change will be granted, but you must still make an effort to serve the non-custodial parent with the name change petition.
If you have terminated the other parent’s parental rights, you can petition for a name change; however, you must still convince the Court that changing the child’s name is in the child’s best interest.
If you haven’t terminated the other parent’s rights, if you don’t have consent or you don’t have sole legal and sole physical custody of the child, you will have to serve the other parent and still convince the Court that changing the child’s name is in the child’s best interest.
If you changed your name in the Decree of Divorce, you will need a certified copy of your divorce decree to change your name.
If you did not change your name in the Divorce Decree, you will be required to file a formal name change petition and follow the steps in part one of this article.
Lately, we are seeing a lot of clients wanting a name change because they are unable to obtain a Nevada Real ID.
To get a Real ID in Nevada, you need your birth certificate and two documents that prove you are a Nevada resident. The name on all three documents MUST match.
So many people use nicknames or surnames, that when it comes time to obtain their Real ID, their given name on their birth certificate does not match their proof of residency documents.
Moreover, people who have been known by one name their entire life, but they don’t identify with their birth name, will have their birth name on their Nevada Real ID, unless they do a name change.
If you want to change your name to match your documents, you must follow the name change protocols set forth in part one of this article.
If you have been convicted of a felony, you will need to disclose that in your name change petition. Failing to disclose a felony charge can result in your name change being set aside.
Once you submit the name change petition and disclose the felony, it will be up to the judge to decide if good cause exists for you to change your name.
If the judge approves the name change, a copy of the name change order will be sent by the Clerk of the Court to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History for inclusion in your record of criminal history.
If the name change petition is denied, the Court will simply deny your name change. It is likely the Court will have a hearing to determine whether there is good cause to change your name before deciding to deny the name change petition.
If you want to change your gender marker, you must request that the Court order the Department of Vital Statistics to change the gender marker on your birth certificate when you make your name change.
What this means is that you will have to follow the steps in part one of this article to secure your name change. In addition, you will need to include in your petition that you want to change your gender marker. In the order granting the name change, you will need to include an additional statement that the Department of Vital Statistics is to issue a new birth certificate with the name change AND changing your gender marker.
It is strongly recommended that you obtain an affidavit from a friend, family member, or physician that supports the gender marker change. The affidavit should include that they have personal knowledge of your current gender and how they have that knowledge – whether friend, family member, or physician. The affidavit should also state your gender identity and the gender you wish to maintain.
The simple answer here is YES, you must be a Nevada resident in order to get your name legally changed in Nevada. This means that you must have lived in Nevada at least six weeks prior to the filing of your name change petition and you must have an intent to remain in Nevada once the name change process is complete.
The Rosenblum Allen Law Firm, serving Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Centennial Hills, Clark County, and Nye County, is the firm that individuals and businesses alike count on to handle their litigation.
