The expression “divorce and maiden name” is known throughout the world, but sometimes it can be difficult to get it back. Most women want to take the surname of their partner before the wedding, so after formalizing the union, they change their maiden name without hesitation. When spouses' life paths diverge, they often return to their maiden name after a divorce. Many women prefer to avoid filling out a lot of paperwork related to changing personal data. There are also women who do not want to change the surname given by their ex-husband out of habit.
Is it possible to return to your maiden name after a divorce?
In accordance with Article 32 of the RF IC, in the event of a divorce, each of the spouses can leave a common surname or return the premarital name.
Changing a surname is possible in the following situations:
- during marriage. You can change your last name at any time. The consent of the other spouse is not required and the obligation to change the surname does not apply to him or her
- when filing for divorce. The application indicates a request to change the surname. After 30 days, the applicant will receive a divorce certificate and a certificate of change of name
- after divorce at any time.
To change your surname to a premarital name, you need to contact the registry office.
If a woman lives in the territory of another country, and the registration and divorce were carried out there, then she must contact the consulate. If a woman returns to the Russian Federation after a divorce, changes are made at the registry office according to registration.
Amount of state duty and terms for consideration of the application
Changing your last name in your passport after a divorce will cost more than simultaneously with a divorce. The cost of the state service for changing personal data in 2021 is 1,600 rubles.
State duty amount
The usual processing time for an application is up to 30 days. If controversial issues arise or the necessary documents are missing, the waiting period may last up to 2 months.
Is it necessary to change your last name after a divorce?
After a divorce, the woman herself decides to leave the common surname or return it to her maiden name (Clause 2 of Article 32 of the RF IC).
The main reasons why a woman leaves a common surname:
- changing the surname is not of fundamental importance
- a woman's desire to have a common surname with her child
- lack of time and opportunity or desire to deal with paperwork and bureaucratic red tape
- the desire to return the surname, as a way to break with past relationships, to start new ones
Legislation
To understand how to change your surname after a divorce to your maiden name, you need to refer to the regulations:
- Federal Law No. 143-FZ “On Civil Status Acts”.
- Article 32 of the Family Code establishes the right of spouses to change personal data upon marriage and upon divorce.
- Article 19 of the Civil Code regulates the general provisions for changing a name and determines the consequences of the process.
After a divorce, a woman has the right to keep her husband's surname. The spouse cannot prohibit or limit this right.
The process begins when a family relationship is dissolved. On the certificate form, the registry office employees indicate the family information chosen by the woman.
After receiving the certificate, you must replace your identity card (passport) 30 days in advance. Otherwise, penalties will be applied.
How to change your last name: options for changing your last name
When filing an application for divorce
In the application for divorce
indicate: “after the divorce, the surname will be changed to .....”. In this case, the divorce and change of surname are registered. The certificate of termination will contain the name indicated in the application.
Changing your last name after divorce - step-by-step instructions
A woman submits an application to change her surname, a package of documents and a check for payment of the fee to the registry office at the place of residence or place of birth registration.
- Fill out an application for divorce according to form No. 20. In the application, in the column “please assign me a surname,” write the desired surname.
- Submit the application and package of documents to the registry office.
- After a month, you must sign an act on the change of surname and receive a certificate of change of surname, on the basis of which other documents will be replaced.
If the divorce was in court, a court decision is made, which comes into force 30 days after the last hearing. The court forwards the extract to the registry office.
Application for change of surname
The application is submitted in writing by the person wishing to change his surname.
The application shall indicate:
- Full Name
- date, month, year of birth
- Place of Birth
- citizenship
- nationality (optional)
- location
- Family status
- information about each child under 18 years of age
- chosen surname
- reasons for the change
- signature and date of composition
Documents that must be submitted along with the application:
- applicant's birth certificate
- certificate of marriage/divorce
- birth certificates for children under 18 years of age
- receipt of payment of state duty
Is it possible to stay in my husband's last name?
Restoring one's maiden name after the end of a marriage is considered under family law to be the right of the ex-wife, but not her obligation. In accordance with this legal norm, no one can force a woman to give up her ex-husband’s surname or force her to wear it. Thus, at any time after the divorce she can change her mind and register a different surname in the registry office.
The only circumstance that forces the ex-wife to take a premarital surname is the recognition of the former family union as invalid. However, she needs to take into account that recognition of the invalidity of a marriage requires a trial and the provision of convincing evidence from the ex-husband indicating that the marital relationship is fictitious.
The main reasons prompting ex-wives not to return their previous surname are:
- The desire to find a man as quickly as possible and enter into a marital relationship with him. Accordingly, when marrying him, the woman plans to take his last name and in her decision is based on expediency, since she does not want to change documents twice.
- The ex-wife was unable to change the personal data of the children during the separation from her husband and does not want her surname to be different from the surnames of the children.
- Reluctance to sit in queues at government agencies.
Procedure for changing a surname
State registration is carried out on the basis of an application. The application is considered by the civil registry office within a month. Upon receipt of an application for a name change, documents to which changes will be made are requested. If documents are lost or there is a discrepancy in information, the deadline is suspended until the comments are corrected. The period can be increased by no more than 2 months. In case of refusal of state registration of a change of surname, the applicant is informed of the reason for the refusal. Upon receipt of approval from the registration authority to change the surname, a certificate of name change is issued.
Consequences
The main consequence of returning to the maiden name is the obligation to re-register documents. Fortunately, not all of them are subject to mandatory change.
You will have to re-register:
- Passport.
- International passport. It must be replaced within 30 days after the last name change.
- Driver's license. As well as other documents for the right to drive vehicles, small boats and river vessels.
- Pensioner's ID.
- SNILS.
- TIN. The tax service will issue a new form with new data, but the number itself will remain the same.
What documents can be replaced at the MFC
Which documents do not need to be changed:
- education diplomas;
- certificates, certificates issued after completing advanced training courses, training sessions;
- documents confirming ownership rights;
- work book;
- other documents.
Important! When performing legally significant procedures where different surnames appear (during marriage and after), in some cases it is now necessary to add papers on changing the surname to the mandatory list of documents.
What you should know about changing your last name:
- The legislation allows for changing the surname, first name or patronymic, separately or together. A person carries out all actions under his own name. But the obligations (including existing loans, work) assumed by him before his last name change continue to apply.
- After changing the last name, the data in the old passport becomes irrelevant. The law obliges a person to obtain a new passport within a month from the date of change of name. Otherwise, you will have to pay a fine for an administrative offense in the amount of 2000-3000 rubles.
- The passport also requires replacement. The time of replacement is determined by the citizen himself, but this must be done before the planned departure abroad.
- To change your surname, no grounds in the form of divorce are required. You will need a desire to go through the procedure established by law.
Important! For re-issuance of some documents you need to pay a state fee. An application for re-registration can be submitted through the State Services portal, in which case the amount of fees may be reduced. To obtain completed documents, you will need to appear in person at the relevant department.
Changing your last name through State Services
To receive the service electronically you must:
- Fill out an application. Attach copies of documents and a receipt for payment of state duty.
- Submit an application.
- The application will be received by the government agency electronically.
State fee for registering a name change
The amount of the state duty is determined in accordance with Article 333.26 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and is 1600 rubles
Registration of application
Information about the application (application number, name of the applicant, date of receipt of the application, contact information of the applicant) is entered into the journal for registering applications for the provision of public services.
After state registration, a certificate of name change is issued. In case of refusal of state registration of a name change - a notice of refusal to provide the service.
Pros and cons of the shift
Since the choice of surname remains with the citizen, the positive and negative aspects of the issue relate mainly to moral and ethical considerations.
By changing personal data after a divorce, a woman receives advantages:
- energetic freedom, according to psychics;
- psychological freedom and support from yourself on the path to a new life;
- if she did not have time to change any documents to her husband’s last name, this is no longer required;
- when a woman turns out to be the heir to her parents’ property, the notary will have no questions about her last name if she changed it to her maiden name.
Minuses:
- bureaucratic red tape with the re-registration of all documents (over the course of family life, more of them can accumulate than in the days when a family was created. A woman could get married without a dowry at all, and get divorced with a pension certificate, an apartment, a car or a plot of land behind her);
- the question arises of changing the child’s surname if he is under 18 years old, since there may be slight difficulties with entering into an inheritance (you will have to look for evidence why the child and mother have different surnames and collect additional papers);
- you have to get used to a different surname again, this is especially difficult if the spouses have been married for a long time.
So, the main reason for change can be called resentment towards your ex-husband and the desire to break all ties with him. By the way, family members do not always disagree with each other’s claims. Often a woman refuses to change her last name as a sign of respect for her ex-spouse or simply because they remained good friends, and this is not necessary.
What documents need to be changed after changing your last name?
After receiving a certificate of change of surname, within a month you need to change your Russian passport and, based on these documents, change the rest. The civil registry office issues birth and divorce certificates with a changed surname. A fee is paid for the preparation of each document.
Replacement of a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation
The replacement of a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation is carried out by the Federal Migration Service or through the MFC.
Required package of documents:
- application for passport replacement form No. 1 P
- passport in previous name
- certificate of change of surname
- applicant's birth certificate
- birth certificates of minor children
- photo
- duty payment receipt
After 10 days you can receive a passport.
Replacing SNILS
SNILS is changed through the MFC, the regional branch of the Pension Fund, or by contacting the employer. Additional package of documents - passport, SNILS (old), divorce certificate
Replacement of compulsory health insurance policy
You can change it at a medical institution or insurance company by providing the following documents:
- old policy
- certificate of change of surname
- passport with changed surname
Replacement of the Compulsory Medical Insurance Policy is free
Replacing TIN
The TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) is changed by the Federal Tax Service at the place of registration. To replace, you will need a valid TIN, a divorce certificate and a passport.
You do not need to pay anything to replace your TIN.
Replacement of international passport
Foreign passports and valid visas are changed at the Federal Migration Service office or through the MFC. They present a new passport, an international passport and an application for the issuance of a new document, a military ID (for men), a receipt for payment of the state duty.
Replacement of driver's license
It is advisable to replace your driver's license. When contacting the traffic police, provide the following documents:
- driver's license to be replaced
- passport with changed surname;
- medical certificate (can be by old last name, with expiration date)
- certificate of place of registration;
- receipt of payment of state duty.
You can submit an application through State Services. This will save time and money. The state duty when submitting documents online is 30% less.
Replacement of bank cards
You can replace bank cards and accounts at a bank branch or at the human resources department at your place of work (salary cards)
List of documentation
In order for the application to be accepted, it will need to be supported by the following documentation:
- civil passport;
- certificate of divorce;
- children's birth certificates;
- personal birth certificate;
- a check for payment of the state tax.
If the need to change your last name arose some time after the registration of the divorce, you can contact the registry office at your place of registration. If personal data changes simultaneously with the official divorce, then it is better to contact the registry office that registered the marriage.
Documents that do not have to be changed when changing your last name
- educational documents (diplomas, certificates). The authenticity of these documents can be confirmed by certificates from the registry office
- title documents for property. In Rosreestr, it is advisable to make changes to the title documents so that in the future you do not have to prove your ownership of objects
- insurance policy of compulsory civil liability insurance of vehicle owners. Apply to the insurance company, whose representative will enter the changed data
- employment history. Copies of the divorce certificate and name change are handed over to the enterprise employee responsible for record keeping, who makes an entry about the change of name in the work book and other documents
To confirm the above documents, applications, a new passport and a certificate of marriage/divorce are provided.
Re-registration of documents
To re-issue a passport, a month is given after the change of surname. Delay may result in an administrative fine. Therefore, you must apply for a new passport first. There is no strict time frame for obtaining other documents.
What documents need to be replaced:
- Passport. Issued by the territorial police department. State duty 300 rub.
- SNILS in the Pension Fund.
- International passport at the territorial Department of Internal Affairs. State duty 2000 rub. for old-style passports, 5000 for new ones.
- Compulsory medical insurance policy.
- Bank card.
- Driver license.
Submission of applications is available on the State Services website. To receive it, you must appear in person at the appropriate institution.
Up to 14 years old
For a child under 14 years of age, it is possible to change his last name, but only through the court, and if he is 10 years old, his wishes are also taken into account.
Please note: the father must agree to this kind of action. You can bypass his opinion only in certain situations:
- Not knowing the exact location.
- Non-payment of alimony.
- Incapacity determined by a court.
- Deprivation of parental rights.
Moreover, each of these cases must be documented.
