Legal Question in Family Law in California

I was married for 6 years and had my name legally changed to husband's name. We were separated for almost a year and divorce became final 7 months ago. Our settlement agreement stated that as of the divorce date, my name would be reinstated to my maiden name, but I haven't gone to Social Security to change it. Now, my ex-husband is saying he will stop paying spousal support because if I'm not upholding my part of the settlement agreement, neither will he.

I should say that this was brought on because his girlfriend doesn't like to see my married name (hyphenated with maiden name) on Facebook. I think it's ridiculous because legally my name is my maiden name, I just haven't started the (huge) process of changing it everywhere.

Am I at risk of losing spousal support because I'm not going by my maiden name?

Other info: Divorce was in California and I have since moved to Massachusetts.


Asked on 11/13/09, 7:01 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Support obligations are not contingent on performance of ANY other obligations in a divorce order, judgment or MSA. Failure to pay support will place your ex in contempt of court and subject him to fines and possibly jail time. In addition, if the settlement agreement was incorporated into the final judgment, as is the usual practice, that is all it takes to legally change your name back to your maiden name. So technically in order to satisfy your obligations under the settlement agreement to your ex you don't have to do anything else; it's done. Of course this also technically means you are now using a false name everywhere, so you really should get that all taken care of. The other issue is that if your ex stops paying you, you will have to enforce the judgment in California. And trust me, that will be a lot more hassle and expense than getting your current legal name put on everything.

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Answered on 11/18/09, 3:52 pm


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