Fill and Sign the Illinois Minor Name Change Form

ILLINOIS MINOR NAME CHANGE IL-NAME-1A ____________ COUNTY ADDENDUM This information is intended to be a guide and does not set forth the law on changing names. For a complete statement of the law, see the Law Summary as described in the General Illinois instructions. 1. Obtain and complete the following forms:  Petition for Name Change Order of Name Change Notice of Hearing (use only if you do not publish)  Notice of Publication (this is not needed if Notice of Hearing is served by personal service or certified mail) 2.Give notice of the Petition and hearing to any other parent of the minor whose parental rights have not been terminated and to any other person who has physical custody of the minor. This notice should be given by mailing a copy of the Petition and Notice of Hearing to those individuals by certified mail with return receipt requested, a reasonable amount of time before the date of hearing, or by personally delivering a copy of the Petition and Notice of Hearing through the local sheriff or other authorized person, a reasonable amount of time before the date of hearing. If you do not have an address for the individual, they can be served by publication with the Notice of Publication in a newspaper published in the municipality in which the minor resides or if there is not a newspaper published in the municipality in which the minor resides, in a newspaper published in McHenry County. The publication must take place for 3 (three) consecutive weeks; the first time must be at least 6 (six) weeks before the hearing date. Generally, you may choose any day of the week (Monday through Friday) but call the Circuit Clerk’s Civil Division to make sure that you have not selected a court holiday. 3.File the Petition with the Circuit Clerk Civil Division before 8:30 a.m. on the day that you have designated in your Notice of Publication or Notice of Hearing. At that time you will have to pay a filing fee of approximately $213.00. In most counties you must appear in court at 9:00 a.m. Bring with you the original publication from the newspaper and the order for the Judge to sign. You must appear in court on the date designated in your Notice of Publication or Notice of Hearing. If you do not appear on the date used in your Publication or Notice of Hearing, the Judge will not hear your petition and you will need to re-publish and come back to court on the date used in your second Notice of Publication or Notice of Hearing. The Judge may want to interview the child to ascertain the child’s wishes with respect to the name change.4.After court, you may return to the Circuit Clerk’s Office and obtain a certified copy of the Court order for a fee. Generally, this fee is $6.00 but it is a good idea to check with the Clerk before the date of the hearing.