Name change requirements by state
Driver license and state ID requirements for all fifty states and the District of Columbia — the agency, the form, the fee, the deadline and the documents, each with the date we checked it.
Every US state handles the driver license part of a name change differently.
Social Security is the same everywhere and it always comes first — its record is the one most licensing agencies check your new name against, and several states require the update before they will issue.
We have read and dated the fee, form, deadline and document list for 45 of the 51 jurisdictions.
For the remaining 6 we publish the agency and the official link, and say plainly that we have not verified a fee.
Georgia and New Hampshire and Pennsylvania charge nothing for the name change itself.
Of the states that do charge, the range runs from $3.00 in North Dakota to $46.00 in California.
Every state and the District of Columbia
A blank fee means the agency does not publish a single figure, or that we could not read one off its own pages. We would rather show you the blank than a number we made up.
| State | Agency | Fee | Deadline | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alabama Law Enforcement Agency | — | — | — |
| Alaska | Alaska DMV | $15.00 | 30d | 2026-08-26 |
| Arizona | Arizona MVD | $12.00 | 10d | 2026-08-26 |
| Arkansas | Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration | — | — | — |
| California | California DMV | $46.00 | — | 2026-07-24 |
| Colorado | Colorado DMV | $34.00 | 30d | 2026-07-25 |
| Connecticut | Connecticut DMV | $30.00 | — | 2026-08-26 |
| Delaware | Delaware DMV | — | 30d | 2026-07-25 |
| District of Columbia | DC DMV | $20.00 | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Florida | Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles | $25.00 | 30d | 2026-09-04 |
| Georgia | Georgia Department of Driver Services | Free | 60d | 2026-07-24 |
| Hawaii | Hawaii — county driver licensing | — | — | 2026-08-26 |
| Idaho | Idaho Transportation Department DMV | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Illinois | Illinois Secretary of State | $5.00 | 10d | 2026-07-24 |
| Indiana | Indiana BMV | $9.00 | 30d | 2026-07-25 |
| Iowa | Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Division | $10.00 | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Kansas | Kansas Division of Vehicles | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Drive | $15.00 | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Louisiana | Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles | — | — | — |
| Maine | Maine BMV | — | 30d | 2026-07-25 |
| Maryland | Maryland MVA | $30.00 | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts RMV | — | — | — |
| Michigan | Michigan Secretary of State | — | — | 2026-07-24 |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Mississippi | Mississippi Driver Service Bureau | — | — | 2026-08-26 |
| Missouri | Missouri Department of Revenue | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Montana | Montana Motor Vehicle Division | — | — | — |
| Nebraska | Nebraska DMV | — | 60d | 2026-07-25 |
| Nevada | Nevada DMV | $8.50 | — | 2026-08-26 |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire DMV | Free | 30d | 2026-08-26 |
| New Jersey | New Jersey MVC | $11.00 | — | 2026-09-03 |
| New Mexico | New Mexico MVD | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| New York | New York DMV | $12.50 | — | 2026-08-26 |
| North Carolina | North Carolina DMV | $16.75 | 60d | 2026-09-02 |
| North Dakota | North Dakota DOT Driver License Division | $3.00 | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Ohio | Ohio BMV | $29.00 | — | 2026-07-24 |
| Oklahoma | Service Oklahoma | $25.00 | 10d | 2026-07-25 |
| Oregon | Oregon DMV | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Pennsylvania | PennDOT | Free | — | 2026-08-26 |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island DMV | $28.50 | — | 2026-08-26 |
| South Carolina | South Carolina DMV | $10.00 | 10d | 2026-08-26 |
| South Dakota | South Dakota Driver Licensing | — | — | — |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Driver Services | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Texas | Texas Department of Public Safety | $11.00 | 30d | 2026-09-02 |
| Utah | Utah Driver License Division | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Vermont | Vermont DMV | $24.00 | 30d | 2026-08-26 |
| Virginia | Virginia DMV | $20.00 | — | 2026-08-26 |
| Washington | Washington Department of Licensing | $20.00 | — | 2026-07-25 |
| West Virginia | West Virginia DMV | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin DMV | $14.00 | — | 2026-08-26 |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Driver Services | — | — | 2026-07-25 |
Or start from what happened
Everything above is free. Doing all of it is the work.
You can do all of this yourself with the links on this page — every underlying form is free. What we sell is the evening back: the official forms filled in from your answers, the steps in the order that works, and a written letter for every bank, employer and insurer you have to tell.
Two questions about your situation first, because there is one answer that means we can’t help — and we would rather tell you that before you pay than after.
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