Connecticut: Adult Legal Name Change Requirements

Requirements one by one

Court, forms, and sworn disclosures

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-99 gives Probate Court jurisdiction concurrent with
Superior Court under § 52-11. The ordinary adult route uses the Probate Court
for the district where the adult resides; the statute and Rule 47.1 state no
minimum residence period.

The Probate packet is PC-901, sworn PC-910, a certified long-form birth
certificate, two IDs including one photo ID, and separately filed confidential
PC-901CI. The petition supplies the current and proposed names, address and
telephone, birth date and place, birth-certificate name, spouse information,
and reason. It is signed under penalty of false statement.

PC-910 adds residence length, real estate, arrears and creditor-notice facts,
pending criminal charges, all convictions, registry status, and prior name-
change petitions. The affidavit is sworn before the listed judicial or notarial
officer.

Background checks, notice, and safety

Probate Court Rule § 47.4 requires a sex-offender and deadly-weapon-offender
registry search for every adult petitioner. A full criminal-background check is
mandatory when the court has reason to believe there is a pending charge,
conviction, or other criminal record, and discretionary for any petitioner. The
adult does not submit a fingerprint card under the current rule or forms.

There is no newspaper-publication step. Rule § 47.1(c) instead requires the
court to send hearing notice to the petitioner and spouse, but the court may
excuse spouse notice when it might jeopardize the petitioner's safety. The
Social Security number goes on PC-901CI, which is filed separately and excluded
from the public court record.

Hearing and decision

Unless the court directs otherwise, Rule § 47.1(d) requires the petitioner to
appear with two IDs and testify under oath or affirmation. The current Probate
Court guide likewise tells the adult to attend the hearing and be prepared to
explain the request. The filing declares that the change is not sought to
deceive, defraud, mislead, or avoid the legal consequences of a conviction.

Connecticut does not categorically bar an adult with a criminal record. A
person on the sex-offender or deadly-weapon-offender registry must notify the
Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection before filing and
include the required sworn statement. The Commissioner may challenge through
the Attorney General, and the court may deny on a preponderance finding that
the request is meant to avoid a conviction's legal consequences.

Fee and effect of the decree

The current Probate Court fee page lists $250 for other petitions, motions,
and applications. Under § 45a-111(c), an indigent petitioner may apply to waive
the filing fee and necessary expenses, including authorized service expense.

Under § 52-11(a), the Superior Court decree makes the complainant thereafter
known by the ordered name; the Probate decree supplies the same court-ordered
change under concurrent jurisdiction. If the petitioner is registry-listed or
otherwise known by the Probate Court to have a criminal record, Rule § 47.4(c)
requires a copy of the decree to DESPP and the police department for the town
where the offense occurred.

What trips people up

• The petition and affidavit are different documents. PC-901 is signed under
  penalty of false statement; PC-910 is separately sworn.
• “May conduct a full criminal background check” does not describe the entire
  rule. Rule 47.4 makes the broader check mandatory when the court has reason to
  believe a charge, conviction, or other record exists.
• The safety exception concerns notice to the spouse. Current Connecticut
  sources do not create a general name-change sealing track from that exception.

Common questions

Must I publish the proposed name in a newspaper?

No. The ordinary Probate procedure uses court-sent hearing notice rather than
newspaper publication.

Is a hearing always required?

Rule 47.1(d) says the petitioner appears unless the court directs otherwise.
Treat the ordinary route as hearing-based, not as automatically papers-only.

Does any criminal record prevent a name change?

No categorical bar appears. Registry status creates prefiling notice, a sworn
statement, Commissioner standing, and the conviction-evasion denial standard;
other criminal history affects screening and decree transmission.

Statutes and sources

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-99 — Probate jurisdiction, registry notice/challenge, denial standard, and post-order notice (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-11 — Superior Court jurisdiction, residence, decree effect, and parallel registry rules (accessed July 27, 2026).
• 2026 Connecticut Probate Court Rules, Rule 47 — adult venue and documents, spouse-safety notice exception, appearance, background checks, and decree transmission (accessed July 27, 2026).
• PC-901, PC-910, and PC-901CI — mandatory adult petition, sworn affidavit, attachments, disclosures, and confidential Social Security sheet (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-111 and Probate Court fee page — indigency waiver and current $250 filing-fee listing (accessed July 27, 2026).