§ 1276.Applications Generally

This section is the entry point for a California name-change case: who can ask for one, and what the petition has to say. An adult signs their own petition. For a minor, a parent, a court-appointed guardian, or -- if both parents have died and no guardian exists -- a near relative or friend can file instead, and the petition must give the place of birth and residence, the current name, the proposed name, and the reason for the change.

Several subdivisions fill in details for less common situations. When a minor's petition doesn't carry both parents' signatures, it must identify the parents (or, if neither is living, near relatives) and where they can be found, so the missing parent can be notified later. A petition signed by only one parent must give the other parent's address if it's known. A petition signed by a guardian must identify the parents or grandparents and speak to whether the child is likely to stay in the guardian's care until adulthood -- groundwork the court will need before granting the request. A minor age 12 or older who has been relinquished to an adoption agency, but not yet adopted, signs the petition jointly with that agency, and doesn't have to list relatives who aren't already known to them. And petitions for minors under juvenile or probate court guardianship, or those under juvenile court jurisdiction more directly, get filed in the court already handling that minor's case.

Subdivision (g), added in 2023, opens the door to petitioners who don't live in California at all. Someone can ask a California superior court to change the name on a California-issued birth certificate -- their own or their child's -- or on a California marriage license, filing in the county where that birth or marriage was recorded, with the case decided under California law.