Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
ex-spouse changing name
During a divorce hearing , my ex- sister in law requested to resume her madien name. Since this hearing and following the final divorce , she has received loans, mva records etc. in the married name but has sought employment using her madien name, and refers to self with the madien name. In addition,she has made a slight change in her first name spelling that resulted in the exact name of another family member. This has produced confusion in bank records and mail delivery. What is the law to have a name changed once it is approved by the court? What steps should be taken to resolve this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: ex-spouse changing name
A person can use any name, and can change the spelling of the name, so long as there is no intent to commit fraud or to harm another person. Most likely the court order authorized the return to this woman's maiden name. If she is using some other spelling that is causing problems for a relative with the same spelling variant, there is not necessarily anything illegal being done, and it may be impossible to require her to use the original spelling. Her legal name is whatever the court authorized, but many people use variants of their legal names on bank records and all sorts of other documents. Unless she and the relative with the same name live at the same address and have the same social security number, it should be simple for the post office and the banks to keep them straight. Consider all of the John Smiths and Mary Joneses who somehow manage.
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