Home › Name change costs › Washington

How much does it cost to change your name in Washington?

Changing your name through a Washington superior court costs $290 in clerk charges — a $200 filing fee plus $90 of statutory surcharges. RCW 36.18.020(2)(a) sets the $200 fee for filing the first document in any civil action and names change of name expressly, in the same breath as adoption and restitution. Subsection (5)(c) then adds a $40 surcharge on filing fees under the section, and subsection (6) adds $50 on the (2)(a) family of filings, for a $290 total — the identical stack this site's Washington probate costs and Washington adoption costs pages document for their own (2)(a) and (2)(f) filings. Unlike states where a name change is a discounted specialty filing, Washington prices it as what it legally is: a civil action, at the civil action price.

Washington name change fees at a glance

The two contrasts in the table show how deliberately Washington prices filings. An unlawful detainer — the landlord's eviction action — opens for $45 under the same subsection, because the legislature wanted that door cheap and fast; a relinquishment petition opens free under subsection (3). A name change gets neither discount: it pays the full civil stack. Some Washington filers have a second venue to consider. District courts also have name change jurisdiction in Washington, and district court filing charges are set under a different schedule — a filer choosing between venues should confirm the district court's current total with that court before assuming the superior court figure is the only price in town; this page documents the superior court route, which is the route most county clerk name change guidance describes. The national comparison, including states that price name changes far lower, is on the name change costs hub.

What the petition involves

An adult name change in Washington superior court begins with a petition stating the petitioner's current name, the desired name and the reasons for the change, filed in the county of residence. The court must be satisfied the change is not sought for fraudulent purposes, and judges typically set a short hearing. Name changes for minors are filed by a parent or guardian, and where parents disagree the filing can become contested — at which point the case behaves like other civil litigation while its opening price stays the $290 stack. A name change granted inside another case follows that case's economics instead: a spouse restoring a former name in a dissolution does not file a separate name change action, and no second $290 is charged for it. Sealed or confidential name changes, available in protective circumstances, follow additional procedures the clerk can describe; the filing stack itself is the same.

After the decree: where the rest of the money goes

The court's order is the beginning of the practical work, not the end of the spending. Certified copies of the signed order are the currency of the change — the Social Security Administration, the Department of Licensing, banks, employers and passport authorities each want to see one — and copy and certification charges are set by the clerk's general fee provisions rather than by the (2)(a) stack, so the clerk quotes them at the counter. Washington does not impose the newspaper publication requirement that drives up name change costs in states like California and Illinois; there is no legal-notice bill because there is no publication step in the ordinary superior court process. That absence is the main reason Washington's all-in cost stays close to its filing cost despite the comparatively high filing stack: $290 at the clerk, plus copies, is the realistic whole for an uncontested adult change. Compare publication states on the name change hub, including California name change costs and Illinois name change costs.

How the case runs

1. Complete the petition for change of name for the superior court of your county of residence
2. File the petition and pay the clerk charges $290
3. Attend the hearing if the court sets one, and answer the court's questions about your reasons
4. Receive the signed order changing your name
5. Order certified copies and update Social Security, licensing, banking and identity documents

What a name change really costs beyond the clerk

Beyond the $290 stack and certified copies, an uncontested Washington name change has few court-side costs: no publication bill, no service on an opposing party in the ordinary adult case, and no separate answer fee because there is usually no respondent. Costs appear where the case stops being ordinary — a contested minor's name change with attorney involvement, or a change tangled up with a protection order or a criminal history question the court wants documented. Attorney fees in those cases are market-priced, and no official schedule publishes them, so they are named here without figures. The wider Washington picture is on the Washington court costs guide, and the record-copy side of updating your identity is introduced on the court record copy fees page.

Can't afford the fee?

Washington superior courts can waive filing fees for a filer who cannot pay them — RCW 36.18.022 addresses waiver of filing fees, and the practical route is the clerk's current waiver application with a sworn financial statement, filed with the petition. Because a name change is rarely urgent, some filers simply save toward the $290; where the change is tied to safety or to correcting records needed for work, the waiver application is worth filing rather than assuming the fee is absolute. A waiver reaches the clerk's charges only, not later copy or agency charges. The general mechanics of fee waivers are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: RCW 36.18.020, official text at app.leg.wa.gov, read directly — (2)(a) first-document fee $200 for a civil action expressly including change of name and adoption; unlawful detainer $45 contrast in the same subsection; (3) no fee for a relinquishment petition under RCW 26.33.080; (5)(c) surcharge $40; (6) surcharge $50 on (2)(a) and (2)(f) filings · RCW 36.18.022 (filing fees may be waived). District court name change charges are set under a separate schedule and are not priced on this page. Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the county clerk.