hi has anyone gotten their name and/or gender marker change in los angeles, ca? or any parts of southern cali?
if so, please let me know. i am looking to begin this process, but do not know where to start. i have the forms
but where do i submit it to?

thanks in advance

I actually just filed for a name/gender change in Los Angeles County on Friday.  You can find the branch closest to you by using this website:
http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/FilingLocator/UI/filingSearch.aspx
The court you want is under the "Unlimited Civil" column.  You can click on it and find out where the courthouse is and its hours of operation.

Los Angeles County also has some county specific forms that need to be submitted as well.  Instead of the generic cover sheet that you can find on the California court website, LA County requires this form to be used as a cover sheet:
http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/forms/pdf/LACIV109.pdf
For Item I, do not check the first three boxes.  I estimated the time for the hearing to be 1 hour.  For Item II, flip to page 3 of 4 and check "A6110 Petition for Change of Name" and circle "7" next to it if you are filing at the courthouse closest to your residence.  For Item III, check "7" and fill in your address next to it.  For Item IV, use the information that you found when searching for your branch location and date/sign.  This takes care of your cover sheet.

You also need to submit a Name Change Criminal History Assessment, which you can find here:
http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/forms/pdf/LACIV226.pdf
Information needed for this form is fairly basic: name, address, etc.

Checklist for the forms you will need (I'm sure you have seen this before, but it never hurts to double check):
LACIV109 (LA County's cover sheet)
LACIV226 (LA County's background check)
NC-200
NC-110
NC-210/NC-310 OR a signed affidavit on a letterhead signed by your physician
NC-220
NC-230

Be sure to have multiple copies of each form.  When I filed, I had two copies of each form, but I would suggest having three copies of NC-220, since one will go to the newspaper you publish in.  Speaking of which, the most inexpensive newspapers I could find for publishing a notice of name change in LA County were the El Segundo Herald, Inglewood News, Lawndale Tribune or Hawthorne Press Tribune.  It costs $75 for all four weeks of publishing plus they will send you an affidavit of Proof of Publication for the County Clerk.  The website is
http://www.heraldpublications.com/herald/

If you need any other information, the Transgender Law Center has a fairly detailed packet that you can find here:
http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/issues/id/id-please
Let me know if you have any other questions that I might be able to help with!

Love your post, Daniel!

Daniel,

Thanks so much, very helpful.
I do have a few questions though...

If I don't end up going to the LA County courthouse would I still need to fill out the cover sheet LA County requires and a name change criminal history assessment? or should I just fill those out as well just in case..

Also, when filling out the forms in the sections where it asks for gender or sex...do I put my biological sex or current...

And lastly, what were the filing fees?

Thanks again

I would say have them filled out just in case, along with the generic cover sheet as well.  It is much easier if you have too many forms than if you are missing something.  I had the generic cover sheet filled out with me, thinking they would need it.  The clerk told me they didn't need it and I just set it aside.

Anywhere the forms ask for name or gender, unless it specifies new name or gender, use your current legal name and gender.

Current filing fees are set at $435.

Glad to help!

If you are low income, be sure to look into a fee waiver.