Many clients ask to have their maiden names restored as part of a divorce. In Alaska, this is accomplished in the divorce decree.
One of my clients commented to me that she had a lot to do to update legal documents and accounts to reflect her name change. She and another client were kind enough to provide me with a list of what they had to do:
- Contact the Division of Motor Vehicles to change your driver’s license and change the name on vehicle titles
- Contact all of your credit card companies to give them updated information with respect to your last name. Although your credit rating is tied to your Social Security number and not your name, it’s still important to make sure your lenders have the right information on file.
- Contact your telephone company, home utilities, and cellular provider to give them your new last name.
- Contact your airline mileage programs. Some airlines actually need copies of the divorce decree.
- Make sure you change your name on all financial accounts, including bank, credit union and investment accounts.
- If you have cards with stores such as REI or Safeway, you should notify them as well.
- You should notify all insurance companies, including auto insurance, health insurance, disability and life insurance that you have changed your last name.
It’s a good idea to get at least three certified copies of your divorce decree. You should keep one for your own file and keep the others to provide proof of your official name-change.
Image credit: “What’s in a name?” by jack dorsey used under Creative Commons Attribution License
Posted in: Divorce