Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Use of prior name

Name changes are easy in District Court or Civil Court.

You can contact them directly or almost any attorney. You do have to pay for advertising. You can also make a motion to amend the divorce judgment to add the name change if it was not already included.

Make sure you have a certified copy of your divorce judgment. If it was done in New York State it should include the right of the party who changed their name to use any prior name.

Also if you just start using your last name with your birth certificate it may suffice for most jurisdictions and usually the Social Security Administration.

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Re: Returning to maiden name after divorce

Application is made under the New York Civil Rights Law. The application may be made in the Supreme Court, or if you live in NYC, the civil court also has jurisdiction.

The procedure is relatively easy. If you retain an attorney to file the forms it should be inexpensive.

Mike.