When I changed my name I bought a book at Barnes & Noble called "How To Change Your Name In California" by Lisa Sedano & Emily Dostow published by Nolo. Mine was the 2004 edition back then but they've updated it a few more times since. It was great. It told me all the forms I needed, where to get them, how to fill it out, how to arrange for publishing the "order to show cause for change of name" in a county circulated newspaper, what to do in the unlikely event the name change is contested, etc. etc. It wasn't hard at all. Basically I filled out all the forms and printed multiple copies, brought them to the court and paid the filing fee (which like it's been said you could possibly have waived, although it's a bit of a hassle), took the form they stamped with the court date on it and sent it to the cheapest newspaper I could find (in alameda county, CA it was the alameda times star) along with payment. They sent me the form that it'd been published for 4 weeks, I brought that to the court, the judge asked me some questions (are you a registered sex offender type stuff), signed the decree, and out I went to pay for some certified copies. That was it. The whole thing probably took around 6-7 weeks once I started.
