Name Change documents you must file with the court.

Filing Documents to obtain a name change.

In order to obtain a legal name change, you will need to file with the county circuit court a Petition for Change of Name, a supporting Affidavit, and an Order for Change of Name.

Civil Coversheet

When you file your name change request, you must include a civil coversheet, which you can obtain at the circuit clerk's office or you can download one from the Pulaski Circuit/County Clerk's Central Receiving section of their website.

Petition for Change of Name

The petition should be signed by you or your attorney, but not both.  It should be titled "Petition for Change of Name and Amended Birth Certificate", if you were born in Arkansas and "Petition for Change of Name" if you were born outside Arkansas.

Supporting Affidavit

The affidavit should be titled "Affidavit in Support of Change of Name and Amended Birth Certificate" if you were born in Arkansas and "Affidavit in Support of Change of Name" if you were born outside Arkansas.  You will need to get this document notarized, so do not sign it UNTIL YOU ARE IN FRONT OF A NOTARY.  The Secretary of State office on Captiol Ave. in Little Rock will notarize documents at no charge.  Other notary publics may charge you the customary $5 charge per document or per certificate.  Do not pay any more than $5 to have only the affidavit notarized.

Order for Change of Name

The document should be titled "Order for Change of Name and Amended Birth Certificate" if you were born in Arkansas and "Order for Change of Name" if you were born outside Arkansas.

It should be about 1-2 pages and have a place for the Judge to sign and date.  It should also have a "prepared by" line indicating who prepared the document.

Self-Address Stamped Large Envelope

If you also submit a 9x12 brown envelope that has your address on it and correct postage, the clerk will usually mail the documents back to you after the order is signed.

Obtain Certified Copies of the Order

Unfortunately, the current practice of the clerk's office is not to mail certified copies.  This means that after you receive copies of the signed order back in the mail, you will need to go back to the clerk's office and request a certified copy.  Each copy costs $5.  They will print out the Order from their computer system and then "certify" it for you.  Certified copies will be needed to change your identity documents.  Usually you will need only 1 certified copy, but having 2 won't hurt.  If you were born outside of Arkansas and you need to change your Birth Certificate, you might want to purchase more than 1 certified copy, because the government office in your birth state may not return the documents that you send them by mail.  If you go to the other state in person, this may not be an issue.