Legal Question in Family Law in California

California has two types of name changes. The first is a common law name change, in which a person simply starts using another name. The actual legal process, which is good for government identification, bank accounts, etc., involves filing a petition for a name change with the superior court. Notice must be given to creditors, and notice is also published for a period of time in a local paper of general circulation. There are filing fees involved, and the fee to the newspaper to publish can be approximately $1000.