The Affidavit of Due Diligence (Child Name Change) is a Nevada district court form, published by the Nevada Supreme Court Self-Help Center, on which you describe every effort you made to find a parent who must be served in a child's name change case. It is for a self-represented person who has filed a petition to change a minor child's name and cannot locate the other parent. On this page you can fill out the form online on FillingPDF and download or print the completed PDF; the original PDF is published by the Self-Help Center at selfhelp.nvcourts.gov.
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What is Affidavit of Due Diligence (Child Name Change) – Nevada?
The Affidavit of Due Diligence (Child Name Change) is a sworn statement, made in a Nevada district court case, in which the person who filed a petition to change a minor child's name explains the search they made for a parent whose location is unknown and who still needs to be served.
The form is written for a self-represented filer. Its caption names the county, the case number, the department, the parent's name(s) and the name of each child (a second child, or "N/A"). Paragraph 1 states that a verified Petition to Change Minor Child(ren)'s Name was filed and that a Notice of Petition to Change Minor Child(ren)'s Name directed to the missing parent was regularly issued, but the parent's location is unknown.
The rest of the form builds the record of effort: the parent's last known address and the date the parent last lived there (paragraph 2), attempts to serve (paragraph 3), and attempts to locate (paragraph 4). Paragraph 4 covers email, phone or text, mail, social media, friends and family, employers, neighbors, online people searches, public records, jail or prison records, child support, military locator services, the Social Security Death Index and anything else you did. Paragraph 5 states that you could not locate the parent. You sign it under penalty of perjury under the law of the State of Nevada.
The Self-Help Center lists this affidavit among its child name change materials, next to the Notice of Petition for Child's Name Change and the Proof of Service on the Other Parent.
Who needs to file Affidavit of Due Diligence (Child Name Change) – Nevada?
The person who filed the Petition to Change Minor Child(ren)'s Name in a Nevada district court and cannot find the parent who has to be served with the Notice of Petition completes this affidavit. The form is built for someone representing themselves (the top block reads "Self-Represented") and speaks in the first person: "I, (your name), respectfully state."
Use it when all of these are true, as paragraph 1 describes:
- a verified petition to change a minor child's name was filed;
- a Notice of Petition directed to the other parent was regularly issued;
- the parent needs to be served, but the parent's location is unknown.
The form covers one or two minor children. Enter the second child's name, or "N/A" if there is only one.
The affidavit is about the parent you cannot locate. Many of its sections let you check a box saying you have no email, phone number, address, employer or other lead for that parent, so you do not need to have found every kind of lead; you do need to answer each section truthfully, because you sign under penalty of perjury. The form does not describe anyone else signing for you.
When to file Affidavit of Due Diligence (Child Name Change) – Nevada
Complete this affidavit after you have filed the petition, the Notice of Petition has been issued for the other parent, and your efforts to find that parent have failed. The form says the parent "needs to be served" and that the parent's location is unknown, so the triggering event is that you cannot serve the parent because you cannot locate them.
The form prints no filing deadline of its own. Each search section asks for the date of what you did (for example, the date you emailed, called or texted, or received a returned envelope), so finish your searches and record their dates before you sign and date the affidavit on page 5. Check the Nevada Supreme Court Self-Help Center's child name change information, or the court handling your case, for any timing rules that apply to your case.
Documents you need
- Affidavit of attempted service, filed as proof, only if you check the box saying someone tried to serve the parent in person at the last known address but the parent no longer lives there.
How to fill out Affidavit of Due Diligence (Child Name Change) – Nevada
Complete the caption and your details
At the top, enter your name, address, telephone and email address, then the county, CASE NO. and DEPT. Add the parent's name(s) and the first child's name, and the second child's name or "N/A".
Name yourself and the missing parent
In the opening line enter your name after "I." In paragraph 1, enter the name of the parent you cannot locate, the parent to whom the Notice of Petition to Change Minor Child(ren)'s Name was directed.
Give the parent's last known address
In paragraph 2 enter the last known street address, the city, state and ZIP code, and the date the parent last lived there. The paragraph states that you know of no other address.
Describe your attempts to serve
In paragraph 3 check one box: no one tried to serve the last known address (explain why), someone tried in person but the parent no longer lives there (file an affidavit of attempted service as proof), or the parent is avoiding service (explain when and how service was attempted and the parent's response).
Report email, phone, text and mail efforts
In paragraph 4, check one box under Email, Phone / Text and Mail. If you contacted the parent, enter the addresses or number, the date, and the response you received; for mail, enter the date the envelope came back and what it said.
List social media, family, employer and neighbor contacts
Check the social media sites you searched (Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn or Other) and describe what you found and the date. Under Friends/Family, Employer and Neighbors, check one box and complete the tables with each name, relationship if asked, what they told you and the date.
Record online and public records searches
Under Online People Searches and Public Records, check each database you searched (such as County Assessor, County Recorder or Court Records) and enter what you found and the date for each.
Answer jail, child support, military and death index
Check one box in each of Jail / Prison, Child Support, Military and Death Index. If you used inmate records or military locator services, list which ones and what each told you.
Add any other efforts
In Other, describe anything else you did to find the parent. Paragraph 5 then states that you could not locate the parent after your search.
Review, sign and download the PDF
Enter the date and year on the "DATED" line, sign, and print your name under Submitted By. Check that every search is true and dated, then download or print the completed PDF from FillingPDF and file it as described under How to submit.
How to submit Affidavit of Due Diligence (Child Name Change) – Nevada
The form names no filing channel, address or fee. It is a court paper with a caption for the district court, county, case number and department of your existing child name change case, so it belongs in that case file.
- Where it goes: the District Court of the Nevada county where you filed the petition, under the same case number and department you wrote on the form.
- How to file it: the Self-Help Center's forms page tells you to read Basics of Court Forms for information about how to fill out and file court forms. That page is at https://selfhelp.nvcourts.gov/forms/name-change-forms.
- What goes with it: if you checked the box saying someone tried to serve the parent in person at the last known address, the form says to file an affidavit of attempted service as proof.
Ask the court clerk where you filed the petition about the filing methods and any fee for your county. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the court's filing procedures described above.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Checking more than one box in a section marked "check one," such as Email, Phone / Text, Mail, Friends/Family, Employer, Neighbors, Jail / Prison, Child Support, Military or Death Index.
- Checking the box that someone tried to serve the parent in person at the last known address without filing the affidavit of attempted service the form calls for as proof.
- Leaving the second child's line blank instead of writing "N/A" when only one child is named in the petition.
- Checking a search box (a social media site, an online people-search site, a public records database or an inmate locator) without filling in what you found and the date.
- Mailing the address-check letter without writing "ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED / DO NOT FORWARD" on the front, or sending it by a means other than the U.S. Postal office.
- Giving the parent's last known street address without the date the parent last lived there, or omitting the explanation when you checked that no one tried to serve that address.
- Signing the declaration under penalty of perjury, which is made under the law of the State of Nevada, while listing searches you did not actually carry out.
- Leaving the date line ("DATED __, 20"), your signature or your printed name blank on page 5.
Frequently asked questions
What is an affidavit of due diligence in a Nevada child name change?
It is a sworn statement in which you list what you did to find a parent who must be served with the Notice of Petition to Change Minor Child(ren)'s Name but whose location is unknown. The Nevada Supreme Court Self-Help Center publishes this version for child name change cases.
Who has to complete the Affidavit of Due Diligence (Child Name Change)?
The self-represented person who filed the petition and cannot find the other parent completes it. The form is in the first person, so you describe your own searches and sign it yourself under penalty of perjury under Nevada law.
Do I have to try every search listed on the form?
No. Most sections let you check a box saying you have no lead, such as no email, phone number, employers or friends and family to contact. You must still answer each section truthfully and describe what you did where you did search, with dates.
What do I attach to the affidavit?
The form asks for an attachment in one case: if you check that someone tried to serve the parent in person at the last known address but the parent no longer lives there, file an affidavit of attempted service as proof. Other boxes ask you to explain in the space provided.
Can I fill out the Affidavit of Due Diligence online?
Yes, you can fill out the PDF online on FillingPDF and download or print it. FillingPDF is an independent service and does not file the affidavit with the court; you file it through the court's procedures.
What does the "ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED / DO NOT FORWARD" box mean?
In the Mail section, you check that you mailed an envelope to the parent's last known street address through the U.S. Postal office, with those words written on the front. You then enter the date it came back and the information that was returned.
Where do I file the affidavit?
File it in the Nevada district court case for the child's name change, using the same county, case number and department shown on the form. The Self-Help Center points to Basics of Court Forms for how to file court forms; ask the court clerk about filing methods.
What forms go with this affidavit?
The Self-Help Center lists it with the child name change forms, including the Notice of Petition for Child's Name Change and Proof of Service on the Other Parent. It lists an Affidavit to Serve by Publication under Publication Forms.
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