Guide for guardians for recognition of a child's change of gender (with or without a name change)
If you are a child's guardian, you can ask for a court order recognizing the child's change of gender. You can ask for a gender marker of female, male, or nonbinary. You can also ask for a change of name at the same time.
️ All court form links open in a new tab.
How to ask for an order recognizing change of gender (with or without a name change)
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Fill out court forms
If all living parents will sign the Petition
- Petition for Recognition of Minor’s Change of Gender and Sex Identifier and for Issuance of New Birth Certificate (form NC-500)
- Declaration of Guardian or Juvenile Attorney (form NC-510G)
- Order Recognizing Minor’s Change of Gender and Sex Identifier and for Issuance of New Birth Certificate (form NC-530)
- Civil Case Cover Sheet (form CM-010)
If 1 or more parents didn't sign, are deceased, or can't be located
- Petition for Recognition of Minor’s Change of Gender and Sex Identifier and for Issuance of New Birth Certificate (form NC-500)
- Declaration of Guardian or Juvenile Attorney (form NC-510G)
- Order to Show Cause—Recognition of Minor’s Change of Gender and Issuance of New Birth Certificate (form NC-520)
- Order Recognizing Minor’s Change of Gender and Sex Identifier and for Issuance of New Birth Certificate (form NC-530)
- Civil Case Cover Sheet (form CM-010)
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Get forms reviewed
- If your court’s self-help center ️ (link opens in a new tab) helps people with name change cases, ask them to review your paperwork.
- They can make sure you filled it out properly before you move ahead with your case.
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Make copies
- Make one copy for yourself and copies for every other person you have to serve.
- When you file them, the court will keep the original and return the copies to you, stamped.
- One copy is for you. The rest of the copies will be to serve the people you're required to serve.
- If you have to serve the child's living grandparents, make enough copies to serve each grandparent.
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File your forms with the court clerk
- As a general rule, file all your forms with the copies in the court that appointed you as guardian.
- The clerk will stamp your forms with “Filed,” keep the original and return the copies to you.
You will have to pay a filing fee of $435-$450. If you cannot afford the fee, you can ask for a fee waiver ️.
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Serve notice on parents or grandparents, if necessary
️ Only complete this step if the petition was not signed by all of the child's living parents, or if all of the child's parents are deceased or can't be located.
Serve any of the child’s parents who did not sign the petition within 4 weeks from the date the clerk stamped the Order to Show Cause—Recognition of Minor’s Change of Gender and Issuance of New Birth Certificate (form NC-520). If you serve by mail, you have to mail the papers within 18 days of that date.
- If all of the child's parents are deceased or can't be located, you must serve all living grandparents within that deadline.
To serve:
- You need someone 18 or older, not you, to give each parent or grandparent a copy of the filed Order to Show Cause (form NC-520), the Petition, and all the attachments. This person is the server.
- If the parents or grandparents live in California, the server has to serve them in person.
- If a parent or grandparent lives outside California, the server can serve them by first-class mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested. But, remember, you cannot mail the papers yourself.
- The server has to fill out a Proof of Service of Order to Show Cause (form NC-521) for each parent or grandparent served and give it to you. If the server mailed the papers, they have to attach the return receipt.
- You have to file these proofs of service within 5 weeks of the date you filed your papers.
️ The Order to Show Cause tells the parent or grandparent to file any objections to the petition within 6 weeks of the date the clerk stamped the Order to Show Cause.
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Go to the court hearing, if necessary
- If you didn't need to fill out an Order to Show Cause (form NC-520), the court will grant the petition without a hearing within 6 weeks of the date you filed your petition.
- If no objection is filed within 6 weeks of the date the clerk stamped the Order to Show Cause, the court will grant the petition without a hearing.
- If an objection is filed by the deadline, the court will set a hearing date and send everyone involved a notice of that date.
- Take the Order Recognizing Minor’s Change of Gender and Sex Identifier and for Issuance of New Birth Certificate (form NC-530) to the hearing for the judge to sign.
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Get your Order Recognizing Minor’s Change of Gender and Sex Identifier and for Issuance of New Birth Certificate from the court
- If the court grants the recognition of a change of gender, the judge will sign the Order Recognizing Minor’s Change of Gender and Sex Identifier and for Issuance of New Birth Certificate (form NC-530).
- Once the order is signed, ask for a certified copy from the court clerk. The child will need a certified copy to change their gender (and name, if it changed) on their legal documents.
️ The child's records are not updated automatically with their new name or gender.
You must take a copy of the Order to each government agency where you need to update your child's ID or record. If both their name and gender were changed, check both links below, since the rules to update each may be different.