How to Legally Change Your Name in Berks County

To legally change your name in Berks County, you file a Petition for Change of Name with the Prothonotary, the civil court clerk on the 2nd floor of the Berks County Courthouse at 633 Court Street in Reading, pay the $250 fee on the office's fee bill, publish notice of your hearing in two newspapers, get fingerprinted for a State Police check, and appear before a Court of Common Pleas judge one to three months after filing. The steps come from state law, 54 Pa.C.S. §§ 701–705, which also lets the judge skip publication and seal the file when publicity would put you in danger. The Prothonotary's phone number is 610-478-6970.

Who this guide covers

This guide covers a court-ordered change for an adult or a child. Two situations skip the court: a party to a divorce can resume a prior surname by filing a written notice with the Prothonotary of the county where the divorce was filed or the decree was entered, showing the case caption and docket number (§ 704), and a surviving spouse files a similar notice with a death certificate in the county where they live (§ 704.1). The Berks fee bill lists a Notice to Resume Prior Surname at $45. Taking a spouse's surname at marriage needs no court filing; PennDOT accepts the marriage certificate. The law also recognizes an informal change: "a person may at any time adopt and use any name if such name is used consistently, nonfraudulently and exclusively" (§ 701(b)), but it produces no court order; the Department of Health requires one to amend a birth certificate, and PennDOT instead asks for your Social Security card plus two documents issued in the new name.

What it costs

The Prothonotary's fee bill, effective September 28, 2026, lists "Name Change" at $250 under Commencement of Actions, the same section as a civil complaint. Checks are payable to "Prothonotary of Berks County," and the office "will not accept for filing any suit or action ... unless the proper fee is submitted." Card payments carry "a minimum fee of $1.00 or 3%" that the office cannot refund, paper filings carry a $1 conversion fee, and a returned check costs $50 (the bill cites county Resolution 325-2025, the office page 324-2025). Certifying a copy of a document is $10 and plain copies are $0.25 a page. The bill lists no fee for a judgment search.

Publication is two bills. The statute requires notice in two newspapers of general circulation in Berks or a neighboring county, one of which "may be in the official paper for the publication of legal notices in the county." In Berks that is the Berks County Law Journal: local rule 430(b)(2) designates it "as the legal periodical in Berks County," and the Berks County Bar Association lists it as "Published every Thursday". The bar's rate page lists a Change of Name notice at $125 for one week with one proof of publication included; the deadline is Thursday at noon for the following Thursday's issue, extra proofs are $10, and "Proof of publication is not provided until payment is received." A notice submitted on a Friday therefore waits up to 13 days to appear in print, which still fits inside the one-month minimum before the hearing if you submit the notice soon after filing. The bar posts a fill-in notice form. The second paper is your choice; the Reading Eagle takes legal notices through its MediaNews Group marketplace site, which posts no rate, so call for the price. Because that charge varies, this guide gives no total.

Two more costs fall on you: "the person applying for the change of name is responsible for costs" of the fingerprints the court sends to the State Police (§ 702(b)), and the judgment search in step 7. None of the county's court pages says where Berks petitioners are fingerprinted or what either costs; ask the Prothonotary when you file.

Step by step

Berks County posts no instruction packet or fill-in petition for a name change on the Prothonotary's forms page, the Family Court self-help page, or the Court Administration and Law Library pages, so the statute is the checklist.

1. Confirm you qualify. You must live in Berks County to file here (§ 701(a.1)(1)). A felony conviction delays or blocks a change; see below.
2. Write the petition. It must state your intention to change your name, the reason, your current address, every address you have had in the past five years, and whether you are asking the court to waive publication for safety (§ 701(a.1)(2)). A spouse may join the same petition. The county's self-help page says "No one in the Courts, Law Library, Prothonotary's Office or any other Court or County office can give you legal advice, tell you which form(s) you should file or help you fill out/complete the forms."
3. File it. Bring or mail the petition and the $250 fee to the Prothonotary, 2nd floor of the Courthouse, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the office closes on federal holidays, Good Friday, General Election Day and the day after Thanksgiving. Whether you may file online instead is unclear from the county's own documents. The Prothonotary's page announces a CourtPro e-filing system without a start date (its current fee bill took effect September 28, 2026), and the system's guide says you "can register as an Attorney, or Pro-se"; local rule 205.4(c)(2)(iii) says "counsel and any unrepresented party must register as an EFS user"; the Family Court self-help page says self-represented litigants "will be permitted or required to electronically file those documents after August 1, 2026 - Notice accordingly will be posted on the Prothonotary's website," though it is speaking of custody and divorce documents; and the office's list of filings that cannot be e-filed, amended in 2019 and still linked from the Prothonotary page, includes "Name Change Petitions" and says "ALL FILINGS BY PRO SE PARTIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR EFILE." Call 610-478-6970 before filing either way.
4. Get the hearing date. On filing, the court "shall ... set a date for a hearing on the petition," one to three months out, and sign an order directing how notice is given (§ 701(a.1)(3)). The bar's notice form shows the order supplies a courtroom and time at the Berks County Courthouse.
5. Get fingerprinted. The court must send the State Police a copy of your petition and a set of your fingerprints, at your cost (§ 702(b)). Ask the Prothonotary where Berks takes the prints and when.
6. Publish the notice as the court's order directs, in the Law Journal (its rate covers one week) and in a second general-circulation paper, and collect a proof of publication from each.
7. Order the judgment search. For Berks and every county you lived in during the past five years, get an official search showing "no judgments, decrees of record or other similar matters" against you (§ 701(a.1)(4)(ii)(B)). A search company's certificate also satisfies the statute.
8. Go to the hearing with both proofs and the search results. "Any person having lawful objection to the change of name may appear and be heard," and the judge may sign the decree "if the court is satisfied after the hearing that there is no lawful objection" (§ 701(a.1)(4)–(5)).
9. Buy several certified copies at $10 each before you leave; every agency you update will want one.

Changing a child's name

A parent or guardian files the same petition for a minor, and notice of the hearing must be "given to any nonpetitioning parent of a child whose name may be affected" (§ 701(a.1)(3)(ii)(B)). The statute requires notice to the other parent, not written consent; that parent can appear and object, and how a judge weighs the objection is a question for a lawyer. When a parent's surname changes by court order, the new surname "shall, unless otherwise ordered by the court, thereafter be borne likewise" by any minor child in that parent's care (§ 703), and a child whose name changes that way, or in an adoption, skips the fingerprint check (§ 702(b)(5)).

If publishing your name would put you in danger

The court must waive publication and the notice to the other parent if it "finds that the notice required ... would jeopardize the safety of the person seeking the name change or his or her child or ward," and it then seals the file (§ 701(a.1)(3)(iii)). The petition itself must say you are asking for this (§ 701(a.1)(2)(v)). Neither the statute nor Berks's local rules set a form for the request; the state Supreme Court's rules committee proposed a statewide rule, Pa.R.Civ.P. 1850, in the July 6, 2024 Pennsylvania Bulletin, but the Rules of Civil Procedure table of contents, current through August 8, 2026, lists no Chapter 1850, so the statute alone governs today. Ask the Prothonotary how Berks handles a sealed petition before you file anything with your address on it.

Criminal records

The State Police check the fingerprints of every petitioner except the children exempted above, note the new name on any criminal history record found, destroy the prints if none, and report to the court within 60 days (§ 702(b)). A person convicted of a felony can get a name change only two calendar years after completing the sentence and while not on probation or parole, or after a pardon (§ 702(c)(1)). The court "may not order a change of name" at all after a conviction for murder, voluntary manslaughter, rape and the other violent and sexual felonies listed in § 702(c)(2), or an attempt, conspiracy or solicitation to commit one. Changing a name "for purpose of avoiding payment of taxes or other debts" is a summary offense (§ 705). The State Police contact page lists a shared line for "Private Detective Roster, Name Change, Fingerprint Corrections," 717-705-1740.

After the decree: what to update

• Social Security first. You change your name by requesting a replacement card, which is free; "depending on your situation" you can start online, otherwise by appointment at a local office, and the card arrives by mail in 5 to 10 business days.
• Driver's license or photo ID. PennDOT's name-change page requires a "Certified Copy of the Court Order," presented in person at a Driver License Center with Form DL-80 (DL-54B for a photo ID). The form says a change or correction alone is "NO FEE REQUIRED" and produces an update card to carry with your license; a new physical license is a replacement, listed on PennDOT's fee page at $42.50, and a new vehicle title in the new name is $72. Nearby centers are in our REAL ID guide.
• Birth certificate, if you were born in Pennsylvania. The Department of Health's amending page and adult form require a certified court order that "meets or exceeds Pennsylvania's judicial name change process," a notarized signature, a photocopy of your ID, and $20 per certificate payable to "VITAL RECORDS," mailed to the Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries, ATTN: Birth Registry, 555 Walnut Street, 6th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101-1934. Children's forms are split by age, and each parent on the record must sign unless one parent has sole custody or is the only surviving parent, or the signer is a non-parent with sole custody who also holds a court order authorizing the amendment. Amendments take about 20 weeks; our birth certificate guide covers plain copies.
• Voter registration. The state's registration page says "If you change your name, for example after marriage or divorce, you must update your voter registration," online, by mail, or in person, by selecting the "Change of Name" box on the form, and to bring identification with your new name to the polls; our voter registration guide has the Berks office address.

Getting help

MidPenn Legal Services, 35 North Sixth Street, Mezzanine Suite 101, Reading, represents people who qualify at no charge; apply at 1-800-326-9177, and the 2026 income limits run from $19,950 a year for one person to $41,250 for four. The Berks County Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service, 544 Court Street, 610-375-4591, matches callers with a Berks lawyer; its Modest Means Program for people just over legal-aid limits does not list name changes among its case types, so ask.

FAQ

How much does it cost to change your name in Berks County?

The filing fee is $250, the Berks County Law Journal notice is $125, and certified copies are $10 each. The second newspaper, the fingerprints, and the judgment search come on top, so the total varies.

How long does a name change take in Pennsylvania?

The hearing must be "not less than one month nor more than three months after the petition is filed," and the State Police have 60 days to report on the fingerprints. Plan on one to three months to the decree, then about 20 weeks more for the Department of Health to amend a Pennsylvania birth certificate.

Do I need a court order to change my name after marriage or divorce?

No. PennDOT accepts a marriage certificate for a spouse's surname. After a divorce, you resume a prior surname by filing a written notice with the Prothonotary of the county where the divorce was filed or the decree was entered, with the case caption and docket number (§ 704); the Berks fee is $45, with no hearing or publication.

Can I change my child's name if the other parent objects?

You can file, but notice must go to "any nonpetitioning parent of a child whose name may be affected," and that parent may appear and object. Whether the judge finds a "lawful objection" is a question for a lawyer, not court staff.

Can I skip publishing my name change in the newspaper?

Only by court order, when the judge finds publication "would jeopardize the safety" of you or your child; the file is then sealed. You must ask for this in the petition itself, so ask the Prothonotary how Berks handles the request before you file.

Sources

• 54 Pa.C.S. §§ 701–705: the Judicial Change of Name law.
• Berks County Prothonotary: location, hours, closures, CourtPro announcement, returned-check resolution.
• Prothonotary Fee Bill, effective 9/28/2026: the $250 name change, $45 resume-surname notice, card and conversion fees, certified copies.
• Filings Not Available for E-File and the CourtPro e-filing guide: the paper-filing conflict.
• Prothonotary: Documents, Forms and Links: no name-change form posted.
• Berks County Civil Rules: rule 205.4 on e-filing registration; rule 430(b)(2) designates the Law Journal; no local name-change rule.
• Family Court Self-Help: staff limits, e-filing sentence, legal help contacts; its fee bill link no longer loads.
• Berks County Bar Association: advertising rates, Change of Name notice form, Law Journal page, and Find a Lawyer.
• Reading Eagle legal notices: no rate posted.
• Proposed Pa.R.Civ.P. 1850, the Pennsylvania Bulletin of July 6, 2024, and the 231 Pa. Code Part I table of contents.
• Pennsylvania State Police contact page: Name Change line.
• Social Security: change name and replace card.
• PennDOT name change page, Form DL-80, and fee page.
• Pa. Department of Health: amending a birth record, adult form, child form (ages 7 to 13), and processing times.
• Update My Registration: voter registration after a name change.
• MidPenn Legal Services locations and eligibility.

Prothonotary of Berks County: Berks County Courthouse, 2nd Floor, 633 Court Street, Reading, PA 19601; 610-478-6970; Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed federal holidays, Good Friday, General Election Day and the day after Thanksgiving; checks payable to "Prothonotary of Berks County." Berks County Law Journal legal notices: Berks County Bar Association, 544 Court Street, Reading; 610-375-4591; info@berksbar.org.