In most states there are fees that are required to process the petition for a name change.  In addition many states will need a copy of your birth certificate and the petition will need to be filled out clearly without any errors. Copies of everything will always be needed in each step. In this process some of the documents will need a notary. In many states your attorney will have that ability. The petition will be filed with the clerk of court or whomever is in the court to handle these papers. There will be fees for this procedure, which are set by each state; therefore, you will need to check with the county clerk to see what those filing fees may be.