Changing Your Name After a Divorce

April 13, 2018 Posted in Divorce

Ending a marriage involves taking many formal legal steps to dissolve your partnership. In addition to getting a final decree of divorce, you may want to take another step to permanently end your association with your former spouse as well. You may decide that you want to legally change your name so you no longer have to go by your married name any more. 

If you want to change your name and no longer go by your husband's name that you took when you got married, Dallas divorce lawyers can help you. There is a formal legal process that you are going to have to follow to change your name and an attorney can help make this process as simple and straightforward as possible so you can get your old name back with the minimum of stress.

How to Change Your Name After a Divorce

One of the easiest ways to change your name after a divorce in Texas is to simply request a name change as a part of your divorce decree that dissolves your marriage. Your divorce decree can include a provision specifying that you can change your name so you no longer have to legally go by your married name.

If your divorce decree grants you a legal name change as a part of the divorce proceedings, you will need to get a copy of the divorce decree so you can provide official notice of your name change to the relevant government agencies.  You will need to provide notice to the Social Security Administration, for example, as well as to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If you have a passport, you will need to submit documentation to change your passport as well.

All of these government agencies are going to need proof that the court has authorized your legal name change, so your divorce decree will be essential. Your documentation will be reviewed and your identity verified by the government offices where you want to change your name. You may be able to submit your request to have your name changed via mail, or can go into your local Social Security Office or DMV in order to get your name legally changed and to provide your proof that the change is authorized.

If your divorce decree did not grant a name change, you can ask the court that handled the divorce  if it is possible they can amend the decree to specify that you have been granted a legal name change. If the divorce court does not agree to amend the divorce decree to authorize your name being changed, you will have to go through the process  of filing a Texas name change petition.

Dallas divorce lawyers can help you to make sure you address the issue of getting your name changed when you divorce, or can help with the process later if you have decided after your divorce is final that you want to get your old name back. You should contact an attorney as soon as possible so an experienced divorce lawyer can make the name change process easy.