'Furious' Husband Dragged for Demanding Ex Change Surname After Divorce

A woman has asked Mumsnet if she is being unreasonable for not reverting to her maiden name after a divorce. Ninety percent of 1,466 Mumsnet users voted that user NCsurname was not being unreasonable to want to keep the name as she explained, "I received a message this morning from exDH who noticed that my married name is still present on my LinkedIn profile.

"I politely responded to let him know that I wont be changing my surname back to my maiden name and left it at that. Received a barrage of abuse in response so I'm wondering, AIBU?"

Advice website Men's Divorce says that in the U.S. there is essentially "no legal action" you can take to force an ex-spouse to change their name.

User NCsurname adds "for context" that they have no children, the name is not unusual and she has moved away since they split. Also, the process of changing her name back was time-consuming and stressful. And she has come to feel comfortable with the name as if it's "the only good thing I got from the marriage!".

She concludes, "I should point out that I'm now in a new relationship, my new partner is well aware of all of this and sees no issue."

When a woman gets married, the marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate is sufficient evidence of a change of name without the need to go via Deed Poll, for the man, it may be necessary to do this via Deed Poll if they wish to take their partner's name or merge them.

Legal advice website FindLaw.com reports that in most states "it's pretty easy to request the divorce court judge to enter a formal order changing your name after divorce. If your divorce is finalized and contains a court order regarding your name change, that serves as an official record of your name change."

If the divorce is finalized and contains a court order regarding the name change, that is an official record of the name change. If the divorce papers do not show a change of name request, it can be more difficult.

FindLaw.com says, "If your divorce papers do not show a request for a name change and you cannot have it entered into the court record, you'll still most likely be able to change your name after a divorce, although the process may be a little more work especially if you want to take on a completely new name.

"If you have some documentation that has your old name on it, such as a birth certificate or passport, then you shouldn't have much worry. Indeed, some states require that you only start using your old name again and request that your name be changed on all of your personal records."

User tickticksnooze commented, "It's your name, he didn't lease it to you."

User Outfoxedbyrabbits wrote, "It's not HIS name, it's YOUR name. I see why you divorced him, well done you!"

User DanielRicciardosSmile advised, "If you don't live near him, and you don't have kids with him, I'd just block him. Then he can rant and rave to himself without bothering you."

Newsweek was not able to verify the details of the case.