Name Change – Adult
Revised Form Promulgated by AJ Memo (11/01/2019), CN 10551 page 5 of 15
STEP 6: Mail or deliver the forms to the
court.
You may mail or deliver to the court the original
and one copy of all the forms: Verified
Complaint (Form A), Certification of
Confidential Information for Name Change
(Form A1), Order Fixing Date of Hearing (Form
B), Final Judgment (Form C), Final Judgment
Addendum (Form C1) and the Civil Case
Information Statement (Form F) along with a
self-addressed stamped envelope and the filing
fee. The court address can be found on the
Judiciary’s website, njcourts.gov. If you mail
the papers, we recommend that you use
certified mail, return receipt requested.
STEP 7: Review copies returned from
court.
The court will return copies of the Verified
Complaint, Certification of Confidential
Information for Name Change and Order Fixing
Date of Hearing to you. Once you receive them,
there will be a docket number written on all the
copies. The docket number is very important
because it identifies your case. It also lets the
court know how to find your case. You must
use the docket number on all future papers you
send to the court about your case. The court
will fill in the date on the Order Fixing Date of
Hearing. That is the day you will appear before
the judge to get the Final Judgment. The court
will also indicate the name of a newspaper in
which you are to have the notice of your hearing
date published.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE PENDING CRIMINAL OR
DELINQUENT CHARGES IN NEW JERSEY, skip
to Step 9.
STEP 8: Notify the State or County
Prosecutor of your Application for a Name
Change.
If you have criminal charges pending against
you in New Jersey, you must send a copy of
the Verified Complaint, Certification of
Confidential Information for Name Change and
Order Fixing Date of Hearing by regular mail
and certified mail, return receipt requested to
the Prosecutor of the county where the matter
is being heard at least 20 days before the
hearing. If the charges were brought by the
Office of the Attorney General, you must send
a copy of the Verified Complaint, Certification
of Confidential Information for Name Change
and Order Fixing Date of Hearing to the
Director of the Division of Criminal Justice as
set forth in Step 9.
STEP 9: Notify the State of your
Application for a Name Change.
You must send a copy of the Order Fixing Date
of Hearing by regular mail and certified mail,
return receipt requested, to the Director of the
Division of Criminal Justice in Trenton, New
Jersey, at least 20 days before the hearing. Mail
a copy to:
Director, Division of Criminal Justice
ATTN: Records and Identification Section
R. J. Hughes Justice Complex
25 W. Market Street
P. O. Box 085
Trenton, NJ 08625-0085
Note: If you have criminal charges pending
against you in New Jersey, you must also
include a copy of the Verified Complaint and
Certification of Confidential Information for
Name Change.
STEP 10: Publish the Order Fixing Date of
Hearing.
In the Order Fixing Date of Hearing that you
receive back from the court, the judge will have
specified the name of a local newspaper. You
must have the Order Fixing Date of Hearing
published in the newspaper the judge chooses.
It must be published in the newspaper at least
two (2) weeks before the date of the hearing.
You should talk to the newspaper about how to
publish legal notices. Included in this packet as
Attachment E is a sample of the newspaper
notice.
STEP 11: Send Affidavit of Publication to the
court.
Once you have published the Order Fixing Date
of Hearing, the newspaper will send you an
Affidavit of Publication, which is proof that you