THE DIVORCE NAME CHANGE

Arizona women wanting to take back their maiden name after divorce

USING YOUR MAIDEN NAME AGAIN AFTER DIVORCE

If you are thinking about divorce, or are in the process of a divorce and you are a woman, now is the time to think about if you want your married surname changed back to your former/ maiden name.  The best way to make a name change happen if you are dissolving a marriage, is to have the change written into the divorce decree.  So that when the court grants you a divorce, they also acknowledge your legal name change.

Women seeking a divorce or who have recently dissolved their marriage in Arizona may have thought about a name change. Changing your surname after a divorce is typically a simple process.

Changing your last name back to your maiden name after a divorce is generally done through the final divorce court order.  If the name change was not considered in the divorce order, there are options to make the legal name change after the divorce. 

The state, in some cases will modify the divorce decree in order to reflect the name change to make it legal.  If modifying the divorce papers is not an option, a woman can begin to use the former name and get it changed on various personal records.  Sometimes doing this requires documentation, such as a birth certificate, that shows the maiden name.

Changing Children’s Name

Changing children’s name back to the mother’s maiden name, however, is a bit more difficult.  Courts give the child the father’s last name traditionally.  Usually the court will take into consideration the best interest of the child, but the traditional rule of keeping the father’s last name is still in place in most courts.

An attorney would be helpful in this kind of family law situation, as the name change process for children will entail examining a number of factors to determine whether changing the name (or keeping it) would have any negative impact on the child as a result of the new name.