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How much does it cost to change your name in Texas?
A Texas adult name change costs $350 in court filing fees — the same statewide consolidated structure as a divorce — plus $39.70 for the mandatory fingerprint step: a $9.95 fingerprinting service fee and a $29.75 DPS processing fee. Texas does not require newspaper publication, which is where several other states quietly add $100 or more.
Texas name change at a glance
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Filing fee, district court | $350 statewide structure (OCA fee chart, item I.B.7) |
| Fingerprinting service (IdentoGO, the DPS vendor) | $9.95 |
| DPS processing — state and FBI criminal history check | $29.75 |
| Newspaper publication | Not required — Tex. Fam. Code §§45.101–45.103 require a verified petition and a fingerprint card, with no publication step |
| Worked total before certified copies | $389.70 |
Why Texas fingerprints name-change petitioners
Texas Family Code chapter 45 requires an adult petitioner to attach a complete, legible fingerprint card and submit to a criminal history check by the Department of Public Safety and the FBI; the results go directly to the court. You are fingerprinted at an IdentoGO location (DPS's contracted vendor — the $9.95 service fee), and the card is mailed to DPS with the $29.75 processing fee and a copy of your petition. Fingerprints cannot be transmitted to DPS electronically for this purpose — the card itself travels by mail, which is the step that adds days to a Texas name change.
How filing works in Texas
- Prepare the verified Petition to Change the Name of an Adult, plus the proposed Order — the state law library publishes the forms.
- Get fingerprinted at an IdentoGO location and mail the card, a copy of the petition, and the processing fee to DPS $39.70 total
- File the petition with the district clerk in your county of residence and pay the filing fee $350
- Attend the short hearing — judges commonly grant uncontested adult petitions the same day the background check is back.
- Order certified copies of the signed order — you will need them for Social Security, DPS (driver's license), banks, and your passport. Copy and certification pricing follows the pattern in the court record copy fee guide; Texas clerk copy charges are set at county level.
Changing a child's name is a different case
A child's name change under chapter 45 requires notice to — and usually the written consent of — both parents or a court finding that the change is in the child's best interest, and the other parent must be served if they do not consent. The filing fee structure is the same district-court chart; the added cost is service, priced in the divorce guide at $50–$100 typical for a private process server.
Can't afford the fee?
A Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs substitutes for the filing fee if granted — see the fee waiver guide. It does not cover the fingerprint vendor or DPS processing fees.
The national picture
Texas is one of the states that replaced publication with a background check; the state-by-state mix of the two — and which states have recently dropped publication — is in the name change cost guide. Every other Texas fee is in the Texas court costs guide.
Sources: Texas Judicial Branch (OCA) — District Court Fee Chart (rev. 11/03/2025) · Tex. Fam. Code ch. 45 — Texas Statutes · Texas Department of Public Safety — fingerprint card instructions for name-change petitioners (Form TX-NC-103). Researched October 2026 — confirm current figures with the district clerk.