Introduction

There are two primary ways to change your name after divorce. Both methods are simple, but changing your name as part of the divorce requires less money and fewer steps. However, changing your name as part of the divorce is not for everyone. This article will explain both ways to change your name after divorce, what is required, and what you can expect.

Part of the Divorce Case

The first and easiest way to change your name is to request it as part of your divorce. In the divorce petition or response that you file you can request to change your name after the divorce. This is usually restricted to a return to your prior name, not a change to completely new name.

Other than making the request to change back to your former name before the marriage, there is nothing else that is required. In fact, by statute, so long as you request a return to your former name before the court signs the divorce decree, the court must enter an order restoring you to your former name.

This is by far the easiest and most cost-effective method of changing your name.

This is very important: If you fail to make the request to change your name, then you will likely not be able to get the court to amend or revise your divorce decree to change your name after the fact. Therefore, before the court finalizes your divorce and enters a final decree of divorce, you should make sure you request a change to your name if that is what you really want.

Separate Civil Suit

Some people choose not to change their name after divorce for one of a variety of reasons. The most common reason I see is that people want to keep the same name as their children even after the divorce. However, once the children are grown up, those people may later change their minds and want to change their name long after the divorce.

If you fall into this camp, or otherwise forgot to have the court change your name in conjunction with the divorce, then you can still change your name afterwards.

Separate Lawsuit

Changing your name after divorce requires that you file a separate civil lawsuit for a name change.

This sounds more complicated than it really is. Filing a name change lawsuit is fairly straightforward; however, some people still opt to hire an attorney to help make sure all of the bases are covered and the lawsuit is successful.

After you file a petition to change your name, you will have a hearing and have to appear before a judge or commissioner. The judge or commissioner will ask various questions to confirm that the court has jurisdiction, that you are sure you want to change your name, perhaps why you want to change your name (although not usually relevant).

No Alterations to Prior Obligations

The most legally significant thing the judge or commissioner will ask as part of your name change after divorce is to confirm your understanding that your prior legal liabilities will remain in effect.

In other words, the law is that you cannot rid yourself of any debts or obligations that existed prior to your name change. This makes sense as you cannot simply remove legal obligations by changing your name. However, not everyone understands this legal reality. So, the judge or commissioner will generally ask you to confirm that you understand this reality.

Most name change hearings only last about 5-15 minutes. However, you might be waiting around for a long time as they often hold multiple name change hearings at the same time. Thus, you might be waiting around in the courtroom for a while until the court calls your specific case.

Additional Filing Fee

An important thing to remember here: there is a separate filing fee to change your name after the divorce in a civil suit. If you change your name as part of the divorce case, then there is no separate court fee. The court will simply change your name as part of the divorce decree.

In contrast, when you file a petition to change your name in the civil suit after the divorce, you will have to pay a new court filing fee. This will vary depending on which county you live in and file. The fee will be somewhere around $300, give or take about $50, depending on your county.

If you haven’t finished your divorce yet, and are still contemplating whether to change your name now or later, this extra fee is something to certainly consider.

Changing Your Name After Divorce

Whether you did it as part of the divorce, or in a separate suit after the divorce, there are similar actions that you need to take to effectuate your name change.

The three most common and ubiquitous documents that you will need to update are your driver’s license, social security card, and passport. This will require trips to the DMV and local social security office.

In addition to your identification documents, you will also want to consider updating your various accounts, titles, insurance policies, etc.

Last and certainly not least important, you will want to updating or making an addendum to your estate planning documents to affirm the name change after divorce.

On that note, you will absolutely want to update your estate plan after divorce anyways, so your updated documents should reflect your new name. However, if you opt to wait to change your name a while after the divorce, you should still update your estate plan rather than wait to do both together.

Conclusion

So, how to change your name after divorce: either part of the divorce case itself, or by filing a separate name change lawsuit after the divorce.

Changing your name as part of the divorce is as simple as making the request known and part of your court filings prior to the divorce being finalized.

If you want to keep your name and then change it sometime after the divorce is over, then you can still opt to change your name after divorce by filing a civil lawsuit. Although the process is simple, it will require a new court filing fee and there are quite a few documents you will need to fill out and file with the court.

After you get your name changed, you will want and need to update your ID documents, asset and debt documents/accounts, and estate planning documents.

If you have any questions about changing your name as part of your divorce, or after your divorce is over, please contact us here and we can answer your questions and let you know how we can help.