To qualify for the 2026 inactive fee, your request must be submitted by December 1, 2025, with an effective date on or before December 31, 2025.
How to transfer to active status
Only licensees on voluntary inactive status may transfer to active status. While suspended, a licensee cannot change license status. For further questions, please complete the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry form.
If you wish to transfer to active status, please submit your request online through My State Bar Profile.
Please note, under California Rule of Court 9.9.5, all inactive licensed attorneys must be fingerprinted prior to being placed on active status. As such, before you submit your transfer to active request, please review and complete the fingerprinting rule requirements.
If applicable, once your transfer to active request has been processed and your annual fees have been adjusted, payment will be expected immediately.
Need help? View a guide on how to submit your transfer to active request online through My State Bar Profile.
How to transfer to inactive status
Only active licensees may transfer to a voluntary inactive status. While suspended, a licensee cannot change license status. For further questions, please complete the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry form.
If you wish to transfer to inactive status, please submit your request online through My State Bar Profile.
Unless you select a different effective date, your status change to inactive will be effective upon the State Bar’s receipt of your transfer to inactive request.
To qualify for the inactive fee in the following year, you must:
Formally transfer to inactive status by submitting the required request online through My State Bar Profile no later than December 1, 2025, and
Ensure the effective date is on or before December 31.
Transfers to inactive status requests submitted after December 1, 2025, or with an effective date after December 31, will not reduce active fees owed for the following year.
You may submit a request to transfer to inactive status after December 1, 2025, or with an effective date after December 31; however, you must pay annual fees at the active rate and will not be entitled to a refund because of the change to inactive status.
How to voluntarily resign
The State Bar does not have a retired status option; the only voluntary statuses are active, inactive, or resigned. If you simply stop paying annual fees, your license will be suspended. Notification of retirement is also not sufficient to change your status.
Please remember that annual license fees are waived for licensees on inactive status who are 70 years of age on March 30 and will continue to be waived for subsequent years, as long as they remain inactive. Resignation, however, should be considered a permanent step for attorneys who are certain they would not wish to practice law in California again. Re-admission after resignation would require a reinstatement petition in the State Bar Court, an expensive and time-consuming process which usually entails retaking most of the bar exam.
If you would like to change your status to resigned, log in to My State Bar Profile, select “Bar Card, Payment Receipt(s), and Other Documents.” Next, scroll down and select the Voluntary Resignation link. Please take a moment to carefully review the information provided regarding resignation. If resignation is still your choice after you review the information, please print the Voluntary Resignation Form and follow the instructions for final submission.
How to change your name on your licensee record
Please submit a Name Change Form to process your name change request. In order to change an official name, your request must accompany copies of four identity documents; two identity documents showing your former name and two identity documents showing your new name. Please find further detailed instructions on the Name Change Form. If you are changing your name with the State Bar following a gender identity transition, you can indicate this on the form.
How to transfer estate planning documents
To notify the State Bar that an attorney is no longer practicing law in the field of Estate Planning and has transferred estate planning documents, please submit one of the following forms:
