Change Your Name in South Dakota

If you want to change your name and you’re a South Dakota resident, you can change any part of your name by filing a petition in the county where you live. You must have lived in that county for at least six months before you can file your petition. Additionally, the state allows residents to change their last names as a result of marriage or divorce without filing a separate petition.

Steps

Filing a Name Change Petition

1. Draft your petition. South Dakota provides fill-in-the-blank forms you can use to create your petition. The state courts provide detailed instructions on how to complete these forms.
   • Generally, your petition needs to include your current name and address, the new name you want, and why you want to change your name.
   • Along with your petition, you will fill out a notice of hearing and an order for the judge to sign if she approves your name change.
2. Sign your petition in front of a notary. Once you’ve finished writing your petition, you need to sign it in the presence of a notary public.
   • No other witnesses apart from the notary are required.
   • The notary will charge a fee for her services.
3. File your petition at the clerk’s office in the county where you live.
   • Your verified petition, signed in front of a notary, also must be accompanied by a civil case filing statement form, a notice of hearing, a final order, and a copy of your current birth certificate.
   • You also must pay court costs of $70, which includes filing fees, court automation surcharges, and law library fees.
   • The clerk will give you the date and time of your hearing, which will be at least five weeks from the day you filed your petition.
4. Publish the notice of hearing in your local paper. South Dakota requires you to publish a notice in your local newspaper once a week for at least four weeks before your name change hearing.
   • The purpose of this notice is to allow anyone who might object to your name change the opportunity to appear at your hearing and contest your petition.
   • You must use the legal newspaper of record, not just any newspaper. If you’re unsure which newspaper to use, you can contact the Auditor’s office in your county.
   • Your local newspaper will charge a fee for this publication, which can be as much as several hundred dollars.
5. Attend your hearing. Come to court at the date and time for your hearing. Dress professionally and arrive early with copies of all your documents related to your name change.
   • Be prepared to answer the judge’s questions about your name change.
   • The judge will grant your order if she is satisfied you are not trying to change your name for a dishonest or illegal purpose, such as to avoid debts.
6. Use your order to change your name on your Social Security card. Once the judge has signed your order, use the official, certified copy to get your name changed with Social Security.
   • You’ll have to go to your local SSA office and complete the application to change your name.
   • The SSA will need to see your birth certificate or passport as well as your name change order, to prove your citizenship and identity.
   • There is never a fee to change your name on your Social Security card. They will mail you a new card after your application is completed.
7. Get your name changed on your driver’s license. You also will need to bring your official, stamped copy of the order to the Department of Public Safety to prove your name change.
   • You will also need to bring your new Social Security card and two documents that prove your current address.
   • You’ll need to pay $28 for a new license with your name changed.
8. Use your new driver’s license and Social Security card to change your name elsewhere. Once you have your new name on your Social Security card and your photo ID, you should have no difficulty getting your name changed on other accounts such as credit card and bank accounts.

Changing Your Name After Marriage

1. Decide if you want to change your name. There’s no legal requirement for either you or your spouse to change your name after marriage. If either or both of you do, you’re only allowed to change your last name, not your first name.
2. Use your new name consistently. Whatever you decide to do, you should use the same name on all documents and accounts. If you change your mind at a later point, you’ll have to file a petition in court to have your name changed to something else.
3. Take your certified marriage decree to your local Social Security office. The SSA needs official, certified documentation of your name change, not a photocopy.
   • You also must take your birth certificate or passport to prove your citizenship and identity when you fill out the name change application.
   • You don’t have to pay a fee to get your name changed on your Social Security card. A new card will be mailed to you when your application is processed.
4. Take your marriage decree to the Department of Public Safety. You’ll need your marriage decree as proof of your marriage to change your name on your license.
   • The DPS also wants to see your Social Security card with your new name on it, and two documents that prove your current address.
   • You’ll be charged $28 for your new license.
5. Use your new Social Security card and driver’s license to change your name on other accounts. After you have your new name on your photo ID and Social Security card, you can easily change your name on credit cards, bank accounts and elsewhere.

Changing Your Name After Divorce

1. Include a clause in your divorce petition restoring your name to one you previously used. This option only allows you to return to a name you used before your marriage, and does not allow you to change your first name or use a different name you’ve never used before.
2. Express your desire to change your name at your divorce hearing. The judge will order your name changed back to whatever you desire if you ask, provided you don’t want it changed for an unlawful reason such as to avoid debts.
3. Take your divorce decree to the Social Security office. The SSA needs a certified copy of your decree as proof of your name change.
   • When you go to fill out the name change application, make sure you bring your birth certificate or passport so you can prove your identity and citizenship.
   • There’s no fee to get your name changed with Social Security. The SSA will process your application and mail you an updated card.
4. Take your divorce decree to the Department of Public Safety. The DPS needs proof of your name change to update your driver’s license.
   • Also bring your new Social Security card to prove your identity, and at least two documents that have your current address on them.
   • You’ll have to pay $28 for an updated license.
5. Use your new driver’s license and Social Security card to get your name changed elsewhere. Once you have a photo ID and a Social Security card that reflect your name change, it will be easier to change it on bank accounts and elsewhere as necessary.

Changing a Minor’s Name

1. Fill out the statement and petition. You will be the petitioner for the name change proceedings and are filing the case on behalf of the child.
   • You must be the child’s parent and will state your relationship in the petition. You also must list the name and address of the child’s other parent, if living.
   • The petition also includes information about where the child has lived for the past five years and any information about court proceedings to establish custody of the child.
2. Sign the petition in front of a notary. After you’ve completed the petition, you must fill out the verification portion and sign it in the presence of a notary public.
   • No other witnesses are required to verify your petition. The notary will charge a fee for his services.
3. File the petition in the court of the county where you live. Although the child presumably lives with you, since you are the petitioner you have to file the petition in the court with jurisdiction over the county where you live.
   • In addition to the verified petition, you’ll need to file a civil case filing statement form, a notice of hearing, a final order, and a copy of the child’s birth certificate.
   • You will pay court costs of $70 to open the civil case, which includes filing fees, court automation surcharges, and law library fees.
   • The clerk of courts will stamp your documents and assign a date and time for a hearing in front of a judge.
4. Have notice of the name change hearing published in your local newspaper. The original notice of hearing will be filed and stamped with the clerk of courts, but a copy of the filed notice must be published once a week for four weeks before the hearing is scheduled.
   • You can’t publish it in just any newspaper, you must use the legal newspaper of record. If you’re unsure which newspaper to use, you can contact the Auditor’s office in your county.
5. Serve a copy of the petition to the other parent of the minor. A copy of the verified petition and a file-stamped copy of the notice of hearing must be served on the child’s other parent at least 10 days before the date of the hearing.
   • South Dakota provides three ways to complete service on the other parent. You can hand-deliver the documents, send them using certified mail, or use a sheriff or private process server.
   • Along with these documents, you need to send the other parent a Notice & Admission form. This form says the other parent was notified of the name change hearing. He must sign this form in the presence of a notary.
   • Once the other parent has signed the Notice & Admission, he must mail the form back to you. A copy of this form will be filed in court with your other documents.
6. Complete the consent form. Before the name change hearing, you must complete a form stating that you are the child’s parent and consent to the child’s name change. This form also will list why the child’s name is being changed.
   • The consent form must be signed in the presence of a notary.
7. File your consent form in court. Before the hearing, you need to file your consent form at the clerk of court’s office with your other documents. You will file the original, signed form, not a copy.
8. Prepare the order and notice of entry. Before the date of the hearing, you need to complete the order of name change and notice of entry of that order. The order is the document that will be signed by the judge if she grants the name change.
9. Attend the hearing. Since you are the petitioner, you must attend the hearing. The child may or may not be allowed in the court room, depending on court rules and the age of the child.
   • Ask court staff if you are unsure whether the child can attend the proceeding. You’ll want to make plans to take care of the child while you’re in court if she can’t attend.
10. Complete the notice of entry of order. Once the judge signs the order for name change, you can finish filling out the notice of entry with the judge’s name and the date and time the order was entered.
11. Mail the notice of entry to the other parent. If the other parent did not attend the hearing, you’ll need to mail him the notice of entry. Otherwise you can hand it to him at the courthouse after the hearing is over.
    • If you’re mailing the notice, you must also fill out an affidavit of service and sign it in the presence of a notary. The affidavit affirms that you sent the notice to the other parent.
12. Take the court order to the Social Security office. You need the order for proof of the name change when you fill out the application to change the child’s name on her Social Security card.
    • You also will need to bring the child’s birth certificate or passport to prove her identity and citizenship.
    • The SSA doesn’t charge a fee for this, and will mail a new Social Security card to you once the application has been processed.
13. Use the child’s new Social Security card to have his name changed elsewhere. You can use the new Social Security card as evidence of the name change for schools and doctor’s offices. Have the child’s name changed anywhere he has a record.

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References

See also

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What links here

• Change Your Last Name
• Legally Change Your Name
• Find Out What Your Name Means
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