Fill and Sign the Name Change Form

Prepared by U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. Copyright 2016 - U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. STATE OF ILLINOIS NAME CHANGE ADULT PACKET Control Number – IL -NAME- 2A This packet contains the following: 1. Instructions; 2. Forms List; and 3. Access to Illinois Law Summary. - - 2 I. EXPLANATION OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME A. In Illinois, an action for a court ordered Change of Name begins wit h the filing of a Petition in the Circuit Court. The Petition must contain certain information. The forms in this packet include the necessary information for an Adult Name Change in the State of Illinois. B. You can use this packet if: ► You are at least 18 years of age and have been a resident of the county in which you will file for the required amount of time a s reflected in the law summary. ► You have proper and reasonable cause for the requested change of name. ► You are not changing your name to avoid debts or defraud creditors. II. WHAT FORMS ARE INCLUDED A. Petition – This document states the reasons and other required details for your name change. B. Notice of Publication – Notice that your Petition has been filed and the matter has been set for hearing. This should be published in the newspaper prior to the hearing. C. Judgment – This is the final determination of the court regarding your petition for name change. Once this form is signed by the Judge and filed with the court, the name change is effective. D. Affidavit – a statement under oath of a non-party affirming the basis of the Petition. If you did not order a completion package and need access to the download page again for any of the above forms, please check your email for a link to that will redisplay the page for you. III. PROCEDURE FOR CHANGE OF NAME (ADULT) FOR THE STATE OF ILLINOIS A. Preliminary Note: 1. The attached forms may be completed by: a. Printing the forms and completing by hand. Use black ink and print neatly. b. Printing the forms and completing using a typewriter. - - 3 c. By completing the forms on your computer using a word processing program and then printing the forms. 2. Use complete names and not initials. Check your spelling carefully, a misspelled word can delay your name change. 3. Print three (3) complete sets of forms. 4. All forms with a heading – the name of the court, the Petitioner’s name, the case number, and the name of the document – require that the heading be completed. You will need to add the name of the court and the full name of the Petitioner. T he “Action/Cause No.” will be assigned by the court clerk at the time of filing. 5. Forms that require your signature and include a notary block MUST be signed in the presence of the notary or court clerk who will complete the acknowledgement. Use your complete name – first name, middle name, last name. 6. When a form is filed with the court, request the clerk “file - stamp” one copy of t he form for your file. 7. A Law Summary is available and can be printed for your State. To do so, go to the end of this package and select the Law Summary link under the form title and print. Review the Law Summary before beginning the process of completing the forms. B. Procedure Step 1: Complete all the forms using complete names – middle names instead of middle initials. Step 2: You will need to personally go to the newspaper to arrange for publication. Take with you two (2) copies of the completed “Notice of Publication” and be prepared to pay the costs of publication. You will need to contact the newspaper in advance to determine the publication costs. Give to the newspaper one copy of the Notice of Publication and keep the other for your records. After Publication is complete, the newspaper will mail you a “Certificate of Publication”. Keep the Certificate with your Petition and the Decree for Change of Name and bring all of them with you when the Petition is filed. Step 3: The Petition for Name Change should be filed at least six weeks after the first publication. Contact the Circuit - - 4 Clerk’s Office regarding a proper date for you to come to the clerks office to file your petition. The Clerk requires a fee of $245.00 in cash, money order or Discover Card - ONLY. NO PERSONAL CHECKS WILL BE ACCEPTED!! You should file your forms in the Office of the Clerk early in the day and be prepared to go to court for your name change. Step 4: After filing the Clerk will direct you to a courtroom to request your name change. Appear as directed by the Clerk and present the Order to Change Name to the Court. At the hearing, any persons objecting to the requested Name Change will be heard by the Court; and the Court may examine, upon oath, the Petitioner(s) or other persons concerning the Petition. Step 5: Obtain a certified copy of the Order from the Clerk after it has been signed by the Judge. You are now ready to notify appropriate persons and governmental agencies of the change. C. Changing Your Birth Certificate 1. If you were born in the State of Illinois, mail a certified copy of the Decree and Money Order for $15.00 to: THE BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS STATE OF ILLINOIS-DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SPRINGFIELD, IL 62706 2. If you were not born in the State of Illinois, contact the office that maintains birth records in the state in which you were born and determine the proper procedure and fees. - - 5 NOTE ABOUT COMPLETING THE FORMS The forms in this packet contain “form fields” created using Microsoft Word. “Form f ields” facilitate completion of the forms using your computer. They do not limit you ability to print the form “in blank” and complete with a typewriter or by hand If you do not see the gray shaded form fields, go the View menu, click on Toolbars, and then select Forms. This will open the forms toolbar. Look for the button on the forms toolbar that resembles a shaded letter “a”. Click in this bu tton and the form fields will be visible. The forms are locked which means that the content of the forms canno t be changed. You can only fill in the information in the fields. If you need to make any changes in the body of the form, it is necessar y for you “unlock” or “unprotect” the form. IF YOU INTEND TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE CONTENT, DO SO BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO FILL IN THE FIELDS. IF YOU UNLOCK THE DOCUMENT AFTER YOU HAVE BEGUN TO COMPLETE THE FIELDS, WHEN YOU RELOCK, ALL INFORMATION YOU ENTERED WILL BE LOST. To unlock click on “Tools” in the Menu bar and then selecting “un protect document”. You may then be prompted to enter a password. If so, the password is “uslf”. That is uslf in lower case letters without the quotation marks . After you make the changes relock the document before you being to complete the fields. After any required changes and re-protecting the document, click on the first form field and enter the required information. You will be able to navigate through the document from form field to form field using your tab key. Tab to a form field and insert your data. If problems, please let us know. - - 6 LAW SUMMARY You may access the law summary by going to this URL address: http://www.uslegalforms.com/il/IL-NAME-2A.htm - - 7 DISCLAIMER These materials were developed by U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. based upon statutes an d forms for the State of Illinois. All Information and Forms are subject to this Disclaimer: All forms in this package are provided without any warranty, expr ess or implied, as to their legal effect and completeness. Please use at your o wn risk. If you have a serious legal problem we suggest that you consult an attorne y. U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. does not provide legal advice. The products offered by U.S. Legal Forms (USLF) are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. THESE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF ANY KIND INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NONINFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL U. S. LEGAL FORMS, INC. OR ITS AGENTS OR OFFICERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE MATERIALS, EVEN IF U.S. LEGAL FORMS, INC. HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.