Kansas
Kansas Name Change Laws: How to Legally Change Your Name
Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited August 11, 2026). · Law checked current as of August 11, 2026. · 4 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content
Kansas's core name-change statute is short: 60 days of Kansas residency, a stated reason for the change, and the name being requested, filed as a petition in district court. Notice of the hearing can go out by mail or by publication, at the court's discretion, rather than requiring publication automatically the way some states do.
Divorce works through a separate, unusually broad statute. Rather than limiting a divorcing spouse to restoring a name held before the marriage, Kansas law lets a court order the name changed to any different name the spouse requests, at or after the divorce decree becomes final.
Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
How to Legally Change Your Name in Kansas
An adult petitions the district court in the county of residence under K.S.A. 60-1402, after having been a Kansas resident for at least 60 days. The petition states the reason for wanting the change and the name requested. K.S.A. 60-1401 is the underlying grant of authority: the district court may change the name of any person at the petitioner's cost. The Kansas Judicial Council maintains a name-change forms page, though its specific form numbers could not be confirmed this session; contact the district court clerk in your county to confirm the current filing fee and required forms before filing, since neither could be verified from an official source this session.
Preparing Your Kansas Petition
Start with the Kansas Judicial Council's name-change forms page and your district court clerk, who can tell you which forms and fee apply. If those forms come as PDFs, PDFelement is optional paid software that can fill them in and edit their text. If none fits and you write the petition yourself in a word processor, it must at least state your reason for the change and the name you are asking for, as described above, and PDFelement can convert that Word draft to PDF. It does not make the petition valid by itself, and the district court decides what it accepts and whether to grant the change.
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Changing a Minor's Name in Kansas
Kansas's name-change statute has no explicit subsection addressing minors. The state's own case-law annotations to K.S.A. 60-1401 point to a 1985 appellate decision confirming that a minor may file a petition through a "next friend," the general civil-procedure mechanism Kansas uses for a minor litigant in any case, rather than a name-change-specific statutory provision. Those same annotations reference courts weighing parental interests and the child's welfare in these proceedings.
Restoring or Changing a Name After Divorce
Kansas's divorce-related name statute, K.S.A. 23-2716, is broader than a typical restoration provision. A court may, at or after the divorce decree becomes final, order a spouse's name changed to any different name requested, not only a name the spouse held before the marriage. Readers should not assume Kansas limits this request to restoring a maiden or prior name; the statute's scope is wider than that.
Notice: Mail or Publication
Service of the hearing notice may be made either by mail or by publication, in the discretion of the court, under K.S.A. 60-1402(b) itself. Only the publication method is borrowed from elsewhere: if the court directs publication, the notice runs as provided in subsection (d) of K.S.A. 60-307, and if the court directs mail, service may be made by registered or certified mail to parties of interest, as the court prescribes. This gives Kansas courts flexibility that a state with mandatory publication does not have, though a petitioner should not assume mail-only service will be used in every case.
Criminal History and Sex Offender Restrictions
No felony or sex-offender-registry restriction appears in the text of K.S.A. 60-1402. An attempt to locate a Kansas Offender Registration Act provision addressing name changes specifically did not turn up the correct section this session, so this should be read as an incomplete search rather than a confirmed absence. Anyone with a criminal-history or registration concern should confirm current requirements with the district court clerk or an attorney before filing.
Marriage-Based Name Changes in Kansas
Kansas has no statute dedicated to a marriage-based name change. A spouse who wants to adopt a new name at marriage does so by custom, using the marriage certificate with agencies like the Social Security Administration and the DMV. See name change after marriage for the federal-level steps involved.
Related Kansas Records
For the marriage certificate or divorce decree that documents a Kansas name change, see Kansas marriage and divorce records. For how Kansas's court system handles filings generally, see Kansas court records. For the broader dissolution process, see Kansas divorce laws. For the full agency-by-agency update checklist once a name change is granted, see the name change checklist.
Disclaimer
This article provides general information about Kansas name-change law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Current filing fees and forms could not be fully confirmed from official sources this session; verify current details with your district court clerk or a licensed Kansas attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.
Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and forms reflect their published status as of August 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I need to live in Kansas before I can change my name?
At least 60 days as a Kansas resident, under K.S.A. 60-1402.
Does Kansas require publishing a name-change notice?
Not automatically. Service of the hearing notice may be made either by mail or by publication, at the court's discretion.
Can a Kansas court give me a completely different name after divorce, not just my maiden name back?
Yes. K.S.A. 23-2716 lets a court order a spouse's name changed to any different name requested, at or after the divorce decree becomes final, a broader scope than a typical restoration statute.
How does a minor file a name-change petition in Kansas?
Kansas's statute has no explicit minor provision. Case-law annotations confirm a minor may file through a 'next friend,' Kansas's general mechanism for a minor litigant, with courts considering parental interests and the child's welfare.
How much does it cost to change your name in Kansas?
A current statewide fee could not be confirmed from official sources this session. Contact the district court clerk in your county for the current filing fee.
Updates
Corrected the notice section to attribute the court’s mail-or-publication discretion to K.S.A. 60-1402(b) itself, with the publication method drawn from K.S.A. 60-307(d).
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources; governing law re-checked for recent changes
The Law Behind This Article
This article rests on the statutory provisions below, held in our own legal record and retrieved from the official source. Tap a section to read the operative text.
Kansas Statutes Annotated, Chapter 60: PROCEDURE, CIVIL
§ 60-1402Change of name of person; notice; order.In force
(a) Petition. A petition may be filed in the county in which the petitioner resides stating: (1) That the petitioner has been a resident of the state for at least 60 days, (2) the reason for the change of name, and (3) the name desired. (b) Notice. Service of notice of the hearing may be made either by mail or by publication, in the discretion of the court. If notice is directed by publication, such notice shall be published as provided in subsection (d) of K.S.A. 60-307, and amendments thereto; and if notice of hearing is directed to be given by mail, service of notice may be made by registered or certified mail to parties of interest, as prescribed by the court. (c) Order. If upon hearing the judge is satisfied as to the truth of the allegations of the petition, and that there is reasonable cause for changing the name of the petitioner the judge shall so order.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-02 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at ksrevisor.gov
Cited in 7 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2025
In the courts (editorial summary, independently checked):Kansas courts read K.S.A. 60-1402 as requiring reasonable cause, not a compelling reason. In re Petition of Clark (2019) held incarceration alone did not defeat reasonable cause and reversed a denial. In Re Application to Change Name (1985) held a minor may petition through a next friend, weighing the child's best interests.
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- In Re the Marriage of Killman (Supreme Court of Kansas 1998, 264 Kan. 33)✓A divorce decree changed a baby's surname from the mother's to the father's, citing convention. The Kansas Supreme Court held the divorce statute gave courts no authority to rename a child and reversed, pointing to the separate name-change chapter that contains 60-1402.
- In re Petition of Clark (Court of Appeals of Kansas 2019, 450 P.3d 830)✓An inmate asked to take back his birth surname and the judge refused, reading a corrections regulation to bar name changes during a sentence. The court held 60-1402 requires no compelling reason, only reasonable cause, and ordered the change granted.
- In Re Application to Change Name (Court of Appeals of Kansas 1985, 10 Kan. App. 2d 625)✓After her father died, a girl's mother petitioned as next friend to change the girl's surname to her stepfather's. The court held a minor may petition under 60-1402, and that in deciding reasonable cause a judge weighs the parents' interests and the child's best interests.
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
§ 60-1401Jurisdiction and costs.In force
The district court shall have authority to change the name of any person, township, town or city within this state at the cost of the petitioner without affecting any legal right.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at ksrevisor.gov
Cited in 5 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2019
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- In Re the Marriage of Killman (Supreme Court of Kansas 1998, 264 Kan. 33)“…als noted that although the Kansas change-of-name statutes, K.S.A. 60-1401 et seq., did not specifica…”
- In Re Application to Change Name (Court of Appeals of Kansas 1985, 10 Kan. App. 2d 625)“…LaDawn Morehead, requesting a change of surname pursuant to K.S.A. 60-1401 et seq. The trial court re…”
- In re Petition of Clark (Court of Appeals of Kansas 2019, 450 P.3d 830)“…under the common law by simply using the new name; and (3) K.S.A. 60-1401 does not require a compelling reason to…”
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
§ 60-307Service by publication.In force
(a) When permissible. Service may be made by publication in any of the following cases: (1) In an action to obtain a divorce, maintenance or an annulment of a marriage if the defendant resides outside this state or if the party with due diligence is unable to serve summons on the defendant within this state; (2) in an action brought against a person who is a nonresident of this state or a foreign corporation having in this state property or debts owing to the person or foreign corporation sought to be taken by a provisional remedy or to be appropriated in any way; (3) in an action, in which the defendant is a nonresident of this state or a foreign corporation or if the party with due diligence is unable to serve summons on the defendant in this state: (A) Which relates to or the subject of which is real or personal property in this state, if any defendant has or claims a lien or interest, vested or contingent, in the property; (B) in which the relief demanded consists wholly or partly in excluding the defendant from any interest in the property; (C) for partition; or (D) for foreclosure of a lien; (4) in an action in which the defendant, being a resident of this state, has…
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at ksrevisor.gov
Cited in 28 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2025
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- Lillis v. Lillis (Court of Appeals of Kansas 1977, 1 Kan. App. 2d 164)“…been made, there was compliance with K.S.A. 60-1603(a) and K.S.A. 60-307. The trial court had jurisdiction which…”
- Board of County Commissioners v. Knight (Court of Appeals of Kansas 1978, 2 Kan. App. 2d 74)“…ication notice to the landowner at the address pled. K.S.A. 60-307(f) provides: “The party seeking t…”
- Medina v. American Family Mutual Insurance (Court of Appeals of Kansas 2001, 29 Kan. App. 2d 805)“…29 (1992). Service by publication is controlled by K.S.A. 60-307. The statute provides for publication s…”
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
Kansas Statutes Annotated, Chapter 23: KANSAS FAMILY LAW CODE-REVISED
§ 23-2716Restoration or other change of name.In force
(a) Upon the request of a spouse, the court shall order the restoration of that spouse's former name. The court shall have jurisdiction to restore the spouse's former name at or after the time the decree of divorce becomes final. (b) Upon the request of a spouse, the court may order such spouse's name be changed to a name that is different than such spouse's former name. The court shall have jurisdiction to change the spouse's name at or after the time the decree of divorce becomes final. (c) The judicial council shall develop a form that is simple, concise and direct for use with this section.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at ksrevisor.gov
Sources and References
- K.S.A. 60-1402, Change of Name of Person(ksrevisor.gov).gov
- K.S.A. 60-1401, Change of Names Generally(ksrevisor.gov).gov
- K.S.A. 23-2716, Restoration of Maiden or Former Name(ksrevisor.gov).gov
- Kansas Judicial Council, Legal Forms: Name Change(kjc.ks.gov).gov
- K.S.A. 60-307, Service by Publication(ksrevisor.gov)