After a divorce it is fairly common for people to want to change their last names from their married name back to their maiden one. You have a few options on what to do with your name once you begin the divorce process: 

1. Request to officially resume using your maiden name in your divorce complaint or counterclaim.
   
   Even if you have already filed your complaint, you can amend it to include the request. If you don’t want to amend your complaint or counterclaim, you can wait until the final hearing and request to resume the use of your maiden name at that point.
   
   Typically, as long as you aren’t trying to change your name to avoid creditors or commit fraud, your request will most likely be granted. 
   
   
2. Use your maiden name unofficially.
   
   Technically, you can start using your maiden name in your personal life any time before the final judgment of divorce is entered with the courts. However, government entities, like the DMV and the IRS, will only recognize and allow you to use your married name. If you don’t mind using your maiden name in day-to-day life, but filing official government documents with your married name, this may be an option. 
   
   
3. Keep your married name.
   
   There is no law that forces you to go back to using your maiden name after a divorce, and your ex-spouse cannot force you to change your name from theirs. Similarly, your ex-spouse cannot stop you from changing your name back to your maiden name if you want to either.
   
   Oftentimes after divorce, custodial parents are concerned with having the same last name as their children.
   
   
4. Align your name with your children
   
   This means the custodial parent can keep using their married name, assuming that is also the last name of the children.
   
   Conversely, the custodial parent may wish to change not only their own last name, but the children’s last names as well.
   
   If you wish to change your child’s name, the process is very different and more complicated. The children’s name change cannot be done during the divorce process, it requires a formal application with the state. The other parent will need to be notified about your intentions and if they don’t consent to the change, then you will need to file an application with the court asking them to find the child’s name change to be in the child’s best interest.
   
   The courts will examine 11 factors to determine whether the name change is best for the child:
   
   1. The length of time that the child has used one surname;
   2. The identification of the child as a member or part of a family unit;
   3. The potential anxiety, embarrassment, or discomfort the child might experience if the child bears a surname different from the custodial parent; and
   4. Any preferences the child might express, assuming the child possesses sufficient maturity to express a relevant preference.
   5. Parental misconduct or neglect, such as failure to provide support or maintain contact with the child;
   6. Degree of community respect, or lack thereof, associated with either paternal or maternal name;
   7. Improper motivation on the part of the parent seeking the name change;
   8. Whether the mother has changed or intends to change her name upon remarriage;
   9. Whether the child has a strong relationship with any siblings with different names;
   10. Whether the surname has important ties to family heritage or ethnic identity;
   11. The effect of a name change on the relationship between the child and each parent.

- - - - - Click here to visit NJ Courts and review the process of a name change for minors. - - - - - 

WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?

Changing your name can be as easy as a sentence in your divorce complaint, but it is not mandatory. If you want to change it, change it. If you want to keep your married last name, you can do that too. But changing the name of your children is complicated, and if the children will have a continued relationship with the other parent, it is not often that the court will find a name change in the best interests of the child and approve it.