Divorce Name Change?

[CajunDixie]

My mind is spinning round and round tonight thinking about when to file for my divorce, what to ask for and if I should change my name back to my maiden name.

To the DIS ladies here who have children and divorced did you change your name?

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I just added my real name back in - without the hyphen. I plan to keep the ex's name until the kids get through school, and then I'll just use my own name.

 

[Aidensmom]

I didn't change it, I was professionally known by that name. I even kept it for a little while after I remarried.

 

[Chatter Box]

when my aunt got divorced she kept her married last name because her son had the same, then she got remarried, she changed names, then a year later her new hubby adopted her son and his name changed too..
be went all through elementary school with one name then started 7th grade, new school, new name.

 

[beagle744]

When I divorced I went back to my maiden name, mainly because my ex's name was kinda peculiar and I just didn't want to deal with the jokes, questions, strange looks, etc... anymore.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

im not divorced but if i was i dont think i would change my name back cuz of my kids

 

[F1Julie]

When I first started the divorce process, I was going to keep my married name. I thought it would be easier for my DD. By the time all the divorce and custody stuff went down, I wanted nothing to do with my ex anymore and no association to him by name, so I went back to my maiden name. I'm happy with my choice.

 

[Serena]

I kept my married name. It's a lot simpler, and my kids would not have liked to have a different last name than me.
My ex-inlaws would have been crushed if I changed it too.

 

[Desiree]

I kept my married name just because it was easier when dealing with Doctor appointments for my daughter, or filling out forms, etc. I always hated the thought of having to explain who I was when I was scheduling appointments for my daughter. So I kept mine but once I remarried, I changed it immediately.

 

[Tjaleks]

Initially, I did not change back to my maiden name, but did it about a year and a half later. Shortly thereafter I changed my children's last name to mine, (legally), since it became evident to the courts he was a dead beat dad, who did not pay child support or ever come and see them. It has been almost seven years since he has seen them. Now that I am remarried I am keeping my maiden name. My DH is going to adopt the boys and when he does we are going to give them a choice of what last names they want. So if either stays with my maiden name I will keep it, if both pick my DH's name then I will change it at that time.

By the way it is such a PITA to change your name. When you get married the first time you are so excited to do it and start you new marriage. Then when you have to change it back, AAARGH. I kept forgetting something, one company needed copy of the divorce decree another didn't, so on and so forth.

 

[Kahana-ri]

When my mom divorced she kept the last name. She explained it would be easier on us. (myself and two siblings) She felt it wouldn't be as confusing for us growing up and people would be less judgmental. Looking back I appreciate that we all had the same last name. In fact when I got married and took my husbands last name, I know it was a bit difficult for her becuase one of us had 'left'. My other siblings are boys, so at least she will have them and their new wives to have our family name.

 

[ctinct]

I did change my name shortly before I divorced, but I did it backwards. I kept my birth name (I dislike the term "maiden name") for almost 25 years while I was married, but as I had three children at home at the time of the divorce, I changed it to my ex's name. I had been thinking of changing it anyhow, to have just one "family" name, and after the divorce, it just seemed like it would be easier on all of us to have the same name. Cheryl

 

[Jilliebean]

I kept my married name at the time of my divorce so that my daughter and I would have the same last name. I've since remarried so we don't have the same name now anyways.

 

[Living with the Land]

I have a different last name than my daughter. Not because of divorce but because I don't want to change my name. I tell DH that i like my name and he doesn't care one way or the other. My point is as far as kids are concerned they don't really care as long as everybody is happy.

Holly

 

[aprincessmom]

To the DIS ladies here who have children and divorced did you change your name?

One of the first things DD said to me when we told her about the divorce was "You and I will have the same last name still, right?" It was a very important thing for her so I kept my married name/ The irony is that I didn't want to change my name when we married but my ex was adamant about it. Now that I'm not longer married to him I'm STILL stuck with the name! Oh well!

 

[SandraM]

Not divorced, but I never changed my name when I got married in the first place. My kids have never had a problem with me having a different surname to them.

 

[graygables]

I changed my name AND I legally changed my DDs names to mine so there would be no problems (even had birth certificates amended). When I remarried, I "hyphenated without the hyphen" so there would be less confusion (I can go by either/or). DDs were older by that point and didn't have any problems with it at all.

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

I kept my married name until I remarried. I didn't realize at the time that I would marry someone so fast (a little over a year later) and I thought if DS was older that he'd feel better and ask less questions if we had the same last name. Then, after I'd been remarried for about two years, the adoption finally (FINALLY!) went through and now we all have the same last name.

 

[Poohnatic]

I didn't want to keep the name of my oh-so-lovely ex husband, so I switched back. My dad had passed away only a few months after I got married, and I'd regretted not hyphenating.

When I got married the second time, DH wasn't thrilled that I would hyphenate. Now he just laughs at the long name I have to sign whenever I have to sign something.

Several of my friends kept their married name at divorcing, but every single one of them married a man with a much easier name than their maiden name!

Suzanne

 

[christineann]

I changed back to my maiden name because the ex-husband and I had the same first name - christopher/christine, and he has numerous court judgements against him for unpaid car loans, short term loans, years of unpaid federal and state income taxes and check kiting. I have been single for well over 10 years, and his bad credit is still bouncing onto my credit report. Last time I checked, there were 26 credit cards listed as possibly being in my name (I have 2). I spoke with my kids first to make sure they didn't have a problem with the name change, and they were and are fine with my going back to my birth name. They wanted to change theirs too, but I told them that they should keep their birth name.