Alaska Name Change Laws: Court Process, Fees, and Forms

Alaska handles adult and minor name changes as a single, age-neutral civil case in superior court. One statute, AS 09.55.010, covers both, and it does not require newspaper publication for an ordinary petition, a detail that surprises many readers because Alaska does require publication in a different, more specific situation.

This guide walks through the adult petition process, the separate paperwork required for a minor, how name restoration works after divorce, and the one place publication genuinely does apply in Alaska.

Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Adult Petition Process

An adult who wants to change their name in Alaska files a civil case, formally called a Change of Name case, in the superior court for the judicial district where they currently live. The governing statute, AS 09.55.010, requires the court to find that the change is for «sufficient reasons» and is consistent with the public interest.

The Alaska Court System provides a standard packet for this: form CIV-698 (Adult Change of Name Packet Coversheet), CIV-699 (instructions), and CIV-700 (the CICON petition itself). After the name change is granted, a petitioner can also file form VS-405 with Alaska Vital Records to update the record.

Filing Fee

The filing fee is $200, effective since May 1, 2023, and it covers both adult and child change-of-name cases. Petitioners who cannot afford the fee can file Form TF-920, Request for Exemption from Payment of Fees, along with their case; the court holds the paperwork pending a ruling on the waiver.

Minor Name Changes

A parent files a separate packet, CIV-692, to change a child's name. If both parents agree, they can both sign on as co-petitioners without any additional form. If only one parent files, the other parent must sign CIV-695, Parental Consent from Non-Petitioning Parent, in front of a notary or court clerk. A parent who disagrees with the proposed change can file CIV-696 to formally object.

The same general statute, AS 09.55.010, governs both adult and minor petitions. No separate best-interest-of-the-child standard distinct from the statute's general sufficient-reasons and public-interest test was found in Alaska law; the parental-consent and objection forms function as the practical minor-specific safeguard.

Name Change After Divorce

Alaska's divorce statutes, AS 25.24.165 and AS 25.24.230, let a court restore a party's former name as part of a divorce or dissolution proceeding. The Alaska Court System's self-help guidance confirms that an adult's name may be returned to a previous name as part of the divorce case itself, otherwise the change has to be handled as a separate Change of Name case using the general adult process described above.

AS 25.24.165(a) also lets the court change a party's name in the divorce judgment to a name that is not a prior name, but that branch carries the extra notice and publication steps described below.

Publication: The One Place It Applies

Most Alaska name changes need no newspaper notice at all. AS 09.55.010, the general adult and minor petition statute, has no publication clause. Publication comes from AS 25.24.165(b), the name-change provision inside the divorce and annulment statutes, and it is triggered by which name the party asks for rather than by the divorce itself.

This is the point most often stated backwards. AS 25.24.165(b) applies only «if a party seeks a change of name to a name other than a prior name.» That party gets a hearing set no sooner than 40 days after the action is filed, notice of the application and the hearing published once a week for four consecutive weeks beforehand in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district, and a further published notice within 10 days after the judgment issues.

A spouse restoring a prior name, such as a maiden name, faces none of that, and neither does a reader doing an ordinary non-divorce adult or minor name change. AS 25.24.230(c) and (f) carry the same line into dissolution cases, conditioning the name change on compliance with AS 25.24.165(b) only where the spouse seeks a name other than a prior name.

Restrictions

AS 09.55.010(b) requires the petitioner to notify the court if they are in Department of Corrections custody, on probation or parole, a required sex-offender registrant, or currently charged with an offense. For those petitioners only, AS 09.55.010(c) adds mandatory findings: the court may not grant the change unless it finds the change does not have a fraudulent purpose, is not intended to hinder or obstruct law enforcement purposes, and would not interfere with the rights of others. An ordinary petitioner outside those categories is measured against subsection (a)'s sufficient-reasons and public-interest standard.

Marriage-Based Name Change

Alaska's general statute explicitly covers this situation. AS 09.55.010(a) states that a change of name upon marriage, dissolution, or divorce meets the statute's sufficient-reasons and public-interest requirements, so a newly married person can rely on the same general Change of Name process, or simply present a marriage certificate to the Social Security Administration and the Alaska DMV, which accept it as standard proof of the new name.

Domestic Violence and Safety Considerations

The materials reviewed for this guide did not surface an Alaska-specific confidentiality or sealing program built into the general Change of Name statute for domestic violence survivors. Anyone changing their name for safety reasons should raise the concern directly with the superior court clerk handling the case and ask what protective options, including Alaska's Address Confidentiality Program for other purposes, might apply.

Even where a state court restricts access to a name-change file, that restriction does not automatically make the new name confidential with the Social Security Administration or the U.S. State Department, which apply their own separate rules.

Related Alaska Records

See Alaska marriage and divorce records for obtaining certified copies your petition may require, and Alaska court records for how name-change case files fit into the state's broader court-records rules.

For the general nationwide process, see how to legally change your name, what it costs to change your name, name change after divorce, and the post-name-change checklist.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Alaska name-change law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fees, forms, and court procedures change over time; verify current details with the Alaska Court System or a licensed Alaska attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

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Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and forms reflect their published status as of August 2026.