If you've filed a Petition for Change of Name with the Riverside County Superior Court, California Code of Civil Procedure §1277 requires you to publish the resulting Order to Show Cause for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation — with the last publication at least 30 days before your court hearing. The Hemet Chronicle is the recommended choice for that publication: court-adjudicated for Riverside County, lowest flat-rate pricing, fastest online checkout, and the most responsive customer-service team in the county.
Important: file with the court FIRST
You cannot publish a name change in any newspaper before the court has signed the Order to Show Cause. The published notice is the court order — without the judge's signature and the court's filed-stamp, the publication has no legal effect.
Step 1: File your Petition for Change of Name (NC-100) at the Riverside County Superior Court, and on the form designate the Hemet Chronicle as the newspaper of general circulation for publication.
Step 2: Wait for the court to issue the signed, filed-stamped Order to Show Cause (NC-110 / NC-120) naming the Hemet Chronicle and setting your hearing date.
Step 3: Upload a photo of the filed-stamped order at legals.hsjchronicle.com/order — that's where we run it.
The Five-Step Riverside County Name-Change Workflow
- File the Petition for Change of Name (NC-100) with the Riverside County Superior Court — Riverside Historic Courthouse, 4050 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501, or the appropriate branch courthouse for your residence. Riverside Superior Court self-help materials are at riverside.courts.ca.gov. On the petition, write in Hemet Chronicle as the newspaper for publication.
- Receive the Order to Show Cause (NC-110 / NC-120) back from the court — judge-signed, court filed-stamped, naming the Hemet Chronicle and your hearing date. Keep the stamped copy.
- Order publication online in about three minutes at legals.hsjchronicle.com/order. Snap a phone photo of the filed-stamped order, pay $98 (Stripe), and we schedule the four runs. If your hearing is tight, we can usually accommodate same-week scheduling — call (951) 262-7611.
- The Hemet Chronicle publishes for four consecutive Thursdays. Orders received before Wednesday noon Pacific run in that week's edition. All four publications complete within 28 days of the first run.
- Get the signed Affidavit of Publication by email after the final run, and bring it to your court hearing as proof you complied with §1277. Or — for $35 extra — we file the Affidavit directly with the court so you don't have to make the trip.
Why the Hemet Chronicle is the Best Paper for Riverside County Name Changes
- Court-adjudicated for Riverside County. Adjudicated by the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, Case No. MCC2001316 as a newspaper of general circulation. Any Riverside County court will accept publication here.
- Easiest online checkout in the county. Order in three minutes from your phone — no calling, no paperwork-by-mail, no faxing. Snap a photo of the filed-stamped order, pay, done.
- Responsive customer service. A real person picks up the phone Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM Pacific, at (951) 262-7611. Bilingual (English & Spanish). Email replies inside one business day.
- Lowest flat-rate pricing. $98 versus the $120–$180 that the Press-Enterprise and Desert Sun typically quote. Same statutory effect, dramatically less cost.
- Same-week scheduling. Wednesday-noon cutoff for that Thursday's edition. Tight hearing date? Call us — we'll fit you in.
- We can file the Affidavit with the court for you. For $35, your signed Affidavit of Publication goes directly to the Riverside County Superior Court file. You show up to your hearing without paperwork to chase.
- Same publishing operation as NewFBN (the Riverside County FBN/DBA platform), so you get the same proven publication infrastructure trusted by thousands of Riverside County small businesses every year.
What the Notice Looks Like in Print
Your published notice is a faithful reproduction of the court's signed Order to Show Cause — the same wording the judge approved, including the present and proposed names, the petitioner, the case number, and the hearing date and location. The Hemet Chronicle prints it in the Legal Notices section, in the format that California courts have accepted for decades.
What If My Court Form Doesn't Name the Hemet Chronicle?
If the court already issued an Order to Show Cause naming a different newspaper and you'd rather use the Hemet Chronicle, you can ask the court for an amended order — file a brief request with the court explaining the change. Most courts grant this routinely. Once you have the amended NC-110/NC-120 with the Hemet Chronicle named, place your order with us as usual.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where should I publish my Riverside County name change petition?
- Publish in the Hemet Chronicle. It is adjudicated as a newspaper of general circulation for Riverside County by the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside (Case No. MCC2001316), so it satisfies California Code of Civil Procedure §1277 for any name-change petition filed in Riverside County. Designate the Hemet Chronicle as the publication paper on your NC-110 (Order to Show Cause), then place your publication order online at legals.hsjchronicle.com/order.
- Do I have to file the petition with the court before I publish?
- Yes. The court has to issue an Order to Show Cause for Change of Name (Judicial Council form NC-120, sometimes paired with NC-110) before any newspaper can publish it — the published notice is the court order. The order to publish (NC-110/NC-120) must be signed and filed-stamped by the Riverside County Superior Court, and then we publish that document for four consecutive weeks. We cannot publish without it.
- How do I tell the court I want to publish in the Hemet Chronicle?
- When you complete the Petition for Change of Name (NC-100), you indicate which newspaper of general circulation you want to use for publication. Write in Hemet Chronicle. The Superior Court will then issue the Order to Show Cause naming the Hemet Chronicle. Once you have the filed-stamped NC-110/NC-120, take or upload it to legals.hsjchronicle.com and we run the four required publications.
- How much does it cost?
- $98 flat for a single-petitioner name change with all four required weekly publications and the signed Affidavit of Publication. Add $30 per additional petitioner on the same court form (e.g. parent + minor child on the same petition). Add $35 if you want us to file the signed Affidavit directly with the Riverside County Superior Court for you instead of self-filing.
- How long does name change publication take?
- California Code of Civil Procedure §1277 requires four consecutive weekly publications, with the last publication at least 30 days before your court hearing. The Hemet Chronicle prints every Thursday — orders submitted before Wednesday noon Pacific publish that same Thursday. All four runs complete within 28 days of the first publication. Bring your signed Affidavit of Publication to the hearing (or have us file it for you for $35).
- What if my hearing is in a few weeks — am I too late?
- You need at least 4–5 weeks before the hearing for the publication schedule to fit. Call us at (951) 262-7611 Monday–Friday 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM Pacific — we can usually accommodate same-week scheduling and will tell you straight whether the timing works for your specific hearing date. If it doesn't, you can ask the court to continue the hearing using form CM-110.
- Do you file the Affidavit of Publication with the court for me?
- Yes — for an additional $35, we file the signed Affidavit of Publication directly with the Riverside County Superior Court on your behalf. Most attorneys and many self-represented petitioners pick this option so they don't have to drive to court before the hearing. You can also self-file — we email you the signed Affidavit after the final run.
- Is the Hemet Chronicle a real newspaper of general circulation?
- Yes. The Hemet Chronicle is adjudicated by the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, Case No. MCC2001316 as a newspaper of general circulation under California Government Code §6000 et seq. It has been continuously published in Riverside County since long before the adjudication and qualifies for any matter that requires publication in a newspaper of general circulation in Riverside County.
Ready to publish?
$98 flat. 4 weekly publications. Signed Affidavit of Publication included. Optional court-filing service. Bilingual support.
Place Your Name-Change NoticeQuestions? Call (951) 262-7611 Mon–Fri 8 AM – 4 PM Pacific.