Changing your surname to your maiden name during marriage and after divorce

Regulatory framework

A woman has the right to change her surname to her maiden name after a divorce. It is enshrined in the following legal acts:

Federal Law-143 “On acts of civil status”.
Art. 32 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation.
Art. 19 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The former spouse cannot restrict this right. The process itself begins during the divorce, since in the certificate form the registry office specialists indicate the surname that the woman herself will choose. Also, if desired, a woman can change her last name later.

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

The feasibility of changing your last name

Many women want to change their surname to their maiden name in a fit of emotion.
However, they will subside over time, and the bureaucratic apparatus will not go away. If there are common children with the husband's last name, the mother and the child will have various difficulties in the future when receiving various government services. If the children remained with their mother, then in the future you will often have to provide a divorce certificate and a birth certificate for the children to prove their relationship. However, this is not the only problem.

When a child needs to enter into inheritance rights, he will also need documents confirming his relationship with his mother, despite different surnames.

Therefore, the feasibility of replacing documents must be considered before taking the first step.

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.

Why confirm your maiden name after divorce?

According to current legislation, a woman can change her surname to her premarital name in two cases:

During the divorce, by writing a corresponding statement and providing a document confirming her maiden name. This could be a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, or other documents that indicate your surname at birth.
After the divorce procedure at any time if desired. However, the procedure will take place on a general basis.

According to current legislation, the ex-wife has the right to keep the surname that she received after marriage. This is especially true during a divorce if the children remain with the mother.

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How to return after divorce?

When filing a divorce, many women think about how to change their husband’s last name and whether it is possible to return to their maiden name some time after the divorce. In order to change personal data, a number of manipulations are required.

Before starting the procedure, you should pay attention to the basic rules for its implementation.

To return the maiden name, an application is submitted to the registry office. The procedure can be carried out both during the divorce process and after its completion (Article 36 of Federal Law No. 143).

After a while through the MFC

According to Article 36 of the RF IC, a spouse who has changed his surname when entering into a marriage relationship may request the assignment of a premarital surname at the time of registration of divorce. A person also has the full right to retain the marital surname received from a spouse. On the territory of Russia, a husband or wife has no legal grounds to prevent the implementation of such a decision.

A change of surname can be carried out later, after the completion of the divorce process, but the procedure will have to be carried out on the general basis for changing personal data (Article 58 of the RF IC). This procedure takes longer.

The algorithm for changing a surname to a maiden name through the MFC after a divorce includes several steps:

Collection of necessary documents , the list of which includes, in addition to the passport, the birth certificate of the citizen who wants to change personal data, and his minor children, as well as a divorce certificate.
Payment of the state duty , which is regulated by Article 333.26 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and amounts to 1,600 rubles.
Drawing up a corresponding application and submitting it to the MFC. The standard form indicates the applicant's full name, marital status, registered address and date of birth. The application also indicates the details of the children, if any, and the maiden name that needs to be returned. Having collected all the necessary documents, you need to submit them and the application to the MFC at your place of residence or birth. There, a registry office employee will help you draw up a standard application and formalize the return of your maiden name.

Important! Payment of the state fee must be made before submitting an application to change the surname.

By changing personal details after a divorce, a person becomes the owner of a certificate of name change. This paper is issued when any personal data (full name) is changed.

A document such as a Certificate of Change of Last Name is issued by the Civil Registry Office if the husband or wife loses the divorce certificate and there is a need to confirm the change in details, for example, in a financial institution (bank). You can obtain this certificate by contacting the registry office department where the surname was changed.

Change your last name after a divorce to your maiden name through government services

You must submit an application to change your personal data through the registry office in a personal form. The full process of changing a surname, as well as a first or patronymic through Internet portals is not yet available.

However, the State Services website helps to significantly speed up the procedure, because through it you can sign up for the electronic queue, as well as pay the state fee. The portal makes it possible to obtain detailed information about the process of carrying out the desired operation, find out the current cost of the state duty, the procedure for its payment, allows you to find out what documents are needed for registration, etc.

Before changing your details, it is recommended to register on the website (if your personal account has not yet been created), enter your data and confirm it. After registering, the user needs to go to the request “State registration of name change” and select a change of surname. A detailed description of the service and all necessary actions to receive it will appear on the screen.

By going to “Contacts” you can find the nearest civil registry office through which it is possible to carry out the intended operation, and the office’s opening hours will also be indicated on the website. Here an entry into the electronic queue is made, after which the citizen becomes aware of the day and time when he needs to appear at the registry office.

Important! Through State Services you can pay the state fee, which significantly speeds up and facilitates the process of changing personal data.

By going to the “Documents” section, you can find a sample of filling out an application to change details , and you can also fill it out at home according to the sample. It is also possible to create an electronic application on the website, after which you will receive a notification in your personal account with an invitation to the registry office to present the necessary documents.

The “Grounds for Refusal” indicate the reasons according to which the Civil Registry Office may refuse to provide this service to a citizen.

After paying the fee, filling out the application and preparing the necessary documents (the same as those indicated above for submission to the MFC), the applicant makes a visit according to the prior appointment and provides all available papers. A month later, department employees contact the applicant and specify the date and time of re-appearance to submit a certificate of restoration of the maiden name. Complete with the certificate, a certificate is issued that allows you to change your passport.

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Briefly about the procedure for changing a surname

Regardless of when exactly a woman submits documents to change her last name, she will need to provide a full package of documents, which includes the following:

valid passport;
application in the prescribed form;
birth certificate;
birth certificates of minor children;
divorce certificate;
receipt of payment of state duty.

The application form can be obtained from a civil registry officer. The application review period is 1 month. After this, a document is issued confirming the change in the civil status record. It will need to be presented to replace your passport, TIN, SNILS, diploma and a number of other documents.

How to correctly fill out an application to change your last name

The document must be filled out according to the sample at the registry office, following the wording.

So, you need to write the following:

name of the civil registry office and its location;
Full name of the applicant;
passport details;
place of registration and actual residence;
the fact of being divorced or married;
presence of minor children;
the surname that the applicant wishes to receive.

The application can be filled out in front of a specialist or downloaded in advance on the Internet. It can also be submitted through the State Services portal if a woman decides to change her personal data some time after the divorce.

How to prove your maiden name after divorce

If a woman initially decided to leave her husband’s last name and then wanted to return to her maiden name, then some difficulties arise. If the marriage certificate contains information about the surnames of the spouses at birth and the common surname after marriage, then the divorce certificate indicates only the common surname. Thus, there is a need to contact the registry office.

You will need to order a certificate of marriage and divorce, which will indicate exactly what surname the woman had before marriage. Having received it in your hands, you can submit documents to change your personal data.

In some cases, the issue is resolved in court. According to current legislation, this is possible only in two cases:

when changing personal data before reaching 14 years of age, which is not relevant in this case;
if the registry office staff refuses to accept the application.

Civil registry office specialists rarely refuse to accept an application, but if such a fact is present, then there are good reasons . They may be:

an incorrectly completed application;
provision of an incomplete package of documents;
provision of documents by a third party who does not have a power of attorney;
suspicion of document forgery.

Based on a court decision, the surname at birth is confirmed if the judge takes the plaintiff’s side. As a result of this, you can receive a certificate of change in personal data.

Where and how to get a certificate of change of personal data

This can only be done at the registry office at the place of registration. Today, the process of unifying the database is underway, so if you change your place of residence, there is a chance that you will receive the required document on the day of your application. If specialists have not yet had time to process the data and enter it into the common database, then they will have to wait.

In this case, the following actions are required:

writing an application to change personal data;
provision of a complete package of documents;
checking the received documents by sending a request to the civil registry office where the entry was made;
receiving a response from the registry office;
issuance of a certificate.

Sometimes the district office does not have confirmation of registration due to various reasons. According to current legislation, these government agencies are required to submit copies of records of acts to the central archive of the registry office. Thus, you will need to submit a request there to obtain confirmation of the data.

What documents will need to be changed after changing your last name?

Having received a certificate of change in personal data, it is necessary to replace the passport.
This is done through the MFC or at the migration service department. Next you will need to replace:

TIN by contacting the Federal Tax Service;
international passport through the MFC or migration service;
driver's license through the MFC or traffic police;
pension certificate from the Pension Fund of Russia;
compulsory medical insurance policy from the insurance company where it was issued.

Additionally, you may need to obtain a new diploma and health certificate. As for the work book, a corresponding note is made in it about the change of personal data by the responsible person of the organization.

It is necessary to clarify in advance which papers will be required to change the above documents. It is possible to submit an application to replace some of them online through the State Services portal. This will save time by obtaining the required services from government agencies.

Change of documents when changing surname

One of the main consequences of changing a surname during a divorce, as already mentioned, is the obligation of the citizen who changed his surname to promptly replace his documents. First of all, you need to take care of the timely replacement of the main identification document of a Russian citizen - passport .

The main part of the documentation remains valid even after changing the surname, provided that a divorce certificate is provided. Thus, when changing the surname, there is no need to change a premarital work record book, education diplomas, certificates of completion of courses, registration certificates, title documentation for real estate and many other documents.

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In addition to the passport, a citizen who changed his last name during a divorce is recommended to change his foreign passport, pension certificate, driver’s license, TIN certificate and medical insurance policy.

To replace a passport , an interested person who changed his last name during a divorce must contact the passport office and write a corresponding application. As a rule, a new passport with a changed surname can be obtained within three to four weeks after submitting the required documents.

It is very important to take into account the legal requirements regarding the timely replacement of your passport when your surname changes. Failure to promptly replace your passport will result in a fine being issued.

Replacement of a foreign passport is not legally limited by certain periods, but it is not recommended to use this passport after a month after registering a change of surname. Therefore, it is better, in order to avoid any problems, to start replacing it immediately after receiving a new Russian passport. Replacement of a foreign passport takes place at the territorial office of OVIR.

A replacement driver's license is not required when changing your last name. However, in order to avoid long explanations with traffic police officers, it is recommended to change your driver’s license immediately after receiving your new passport. To do this, you will need to pay fees, bring an old driver's license, a passport replaced after a last name change, a certificate of last name change, a driver's card and a certificate from a medical institution (a medical certificate even with an old last name will do, if the validity of the certificate provided has not yet expired).

The medical insurance policy is changed by the owner in the insurance organization that issued the policy or in a medical institution. A change of surname when replacing a medical certificate is confirmed by the corresponding registration certificate and a new passport. There are no requirements for the timing of replacing a medical policy when changing your last name, so here you can decide for yourself when it needs to be changed.

The pension certificate can be replaced at the place of work of the person who changed his last name during divorce, or at a branch of the Russian Pension Fund.

The TIN certificate is changed by the interested party independently. To do this, he needs to contact the territorial tax service and fill out an application there. To replace the specified certificate, you need to have a previous TIN certificate with your previous surname, a new Russian passport and a copy of the registration certificate about changing the surname.