Name changes — Indian River County, Florida

Residents anywhere in the county, from Fellsmere to Indian River Shores, change a name by filing a petition with the Clerk of the Circuit Court Domestic Relations Department in Vero Beach, the only place a local resident may file.

The Clerk's Name Changes page offers two packets, one for an adult and one for minor children, and says an action for change of name is filed in the county of current residence (Clerk Name Changes page). That rule comes from section 68.07(1), which gives the court jurisdiction over a petition filed in the county where the person resides (section 68.07, Florida Statutes). The Domestic Relations Department works from Room 136 of the courthouse at 2000 16th Avenue, Vero Beach, phone (772) 226-3100.

Section 68.07(9) states that the section does not apply to a change of name in a dissolution of marriage or adoption proceeding. A married couple in Sebastian or Vero Beach may also join with their minor children in one petition, with the children's names changed at the court's discretion.

An adult name change at the Vero Beach courthouse costs $400.00 to file, payable in cash, by money order, attorney check or credit card, and the Clerk refuses personal checks.

The adult packet's checklist lists what opens the case: the Petition for Change of Name (Adult), Florida form 12.982(a), a Notice of Related Cases, a Civil Cover Sheet, the Notice of Limitation of Services Provided and Acknowledgment, a Final Disposition Form, and two self-addressed stamped envelopes (adult packet, page 9). The instructions direct Indian River County filers to the Clerk at 2000 16th Avenue, Vero Beach, where a deputy clerk assigns the case number and places the envelopes in the file (adult packet, page 10).

The walk-in certification price comes from the Clerk fee schedule (Clerk fee schedule), and the packets confirm that each certified copy of a name change judgment carries a charge at the Vero Beach Clerk (adult packet, page 11).

Unless a former name is being restored, every adult petitioner, and the parents in a child's case, must be fingerprinted at the Indian River County Sheriff's Office after the case is opened and before any hearing is set.

The Clerk names the Sheriff's Office at 4055 41st Ave, Vero Beach, as the designated agency, tells filers to open the court case before being fingerprinted, and gives ORI FL923810Z as the code for submission (adult packet, page 1). The Sheriff takes prints Tuesday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., asks people to arrive before 2:45 p.m., and offers both livescan and ink rolled cards (Indian River County Sheriff's Office).

The Sheriff's $25.00 administrative fee is collected before printing and may be paid by cash, check, money order or card, with a 3.95% convenience fee and a $2.50 minimum per transaction (Sheriff fingerprinting page). Payment to FDLE is separate and must be made through its online Civil Applicant Payment System within thirty days, or the Transaction Control Number on the card lapses and a new one is needed. According to the Clerk packet, FDLE returns results within 72 hours of submission and payment (adult packet, page 1).

The statute sets the route for the prints from 41st Avenue: before the hearing they go electronically to FDLE and on to the FBI, and the results return to the clerk for the court to consider with the petition (section 68.07(2)). The petitioner bears the cost, or the parent or guardian does for a minor. The Clerk's page still carries a note from the COVID-19 closure pointing to a UPS fingerprint option at $58.50 (Clerk Name Changes page), but the current packets name the Sheriff on 41st Avenue as the designated agency.

A hearing date in Vero Beach comes only after the fingerprint results reach the Clerk and the petitioner files Form A, with about four weeks to receive a mailed notice of the date.

The adult instructions state that no final hearing will be set or conducted until the records check results are filed with the clerk; after that, the petitioner submits Form A: Family Case Inquiry/Update, on paper or online through the Nineteenth Circuit Family Division (adult packet, page 10; page 11). The packet allows approximately four weeks for the case to be set and asks petitioners to reach the Vero Beach courthouse at least 15 minutes early with copies of every filed document (adult packet, page 11). The information sheet adds that hearing dates and case status questions go through Form A and not the Clerk (adult packet, page 1).

Language support is the filer's job. The packet says the family division of the Nineteenth Circuit does not provide interpreters for these hearings, so a petitioner who cannot follow English brings one, other than a spouse, at personal expense, or the Vero Beach hearing may be reset (adult packet, page 11). Restoring a former name is quicker: under section 68.07(4) that hearing may be held immediately after filing, while every other petition waits for the records check (section 68.07(4)).

When only one parent of a child in Indian River County files, the other parent must be served by the Sheriff or a process server, or by newspaper notice if that parent is a nonresident or cannot be located.

The minor packet treats a parent who neither joins the petition nor signs the Consent for Name Change as a party to be served with a 20-day summons, and the Sheriff's Civil Division in Vero Beach charges $40.00 for that service (minor packet, page 12). The served parent has twenty days to respond; a consent lets the petitioner request a hearing through Form A. Section 68.07(8) allows constructive notice when the other parent is a nonresident (section 68.07(8)).

For that route, the Clerk signs and seals a Notice of Action (minor packet, page 12) that runs in a local newspaper of general circulation once a week for four weeks, and the other parent then has twenty-eight days from the first publication to respond (minor packet, page 13). If no response arrives, a Motion for Default and Non-Military Affidavit go to the Clerk in Vero Beach. Parents who cannot agree may be ordered into mediation with a licensed family law mediator, and the referral order states the fee.

The parents themselves are the ones fingerprinted in a minor case, and the minor packet notes the final hearing may follow immediately or on the first available date after the Clerk of the Circuit Court receives the results (minor packet, page 1).

After the judge signs the order, the Clerk of the Circuit Court reports the change to the state, and certified copies of the judgment may be needed at the Social Security office or a driver license office.

The petitioner leaves the Vero Beach hearing with a conformed copy of the final judgment, and the packet notes that certified copies may be needed for the Social Security office or the Driver's License office (adult packet, page 11). By statute, the clerk sends a report to the Office of Vital Statistics when the birth occurred in Florida, gives a certified copy to a petitioner born in another state, and reports the judgment to FDLE within 5 business days, which passes it to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (section 68.07(5) and (6)).

As of an archived August 13, 2025 copy of its motorist page, the Indian River County Tax Collector stated that it provides full driver license services as an agent of that state department (Indian River County Tax Collector). For help with the packets, the Clerk's Self-Help Center at the courthouse handles family law forms by phone at 772-226-3162 and through kiosks at the Up Center on 27th Street, the Sebastian Office on U.S. 1 and Fellsmere City Hall (Self-Help Center). Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Name Changes page and packets of the Indian River County Clerk and the Sheriff's fingerprinting page.