Changing your name back in Maine

Whether you can get your former name back in the divorce itself — and what it costs in Maine if you miss that moment.

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The federal half is the same everywhere

Social Security, the passport, and the order to do them in are identical in all fifty states and are on the main name-change page. This page is the part that is Maine-specific.

Restore it in the divorceYes19-A M.R.S. § 1051
After the decree is finalYes separate statutory name-change petition
Newspaper publicationNot required no
Background checkYes Yes. 18-C M.R.S. § 1-701(5)
Separate petition fee$75.00Confirmed from an official schedule.
CourtProbate Court of the county in… An adult petitions in the Probate Court of the county in which the adult resides (18-C…

Restoring your name in the divorce

Maine restores a former name through the divorce itself, under 19-A M.R.S. § 1051.

‘Upon the request of either spouse to change that person’s own name, the court, when entering judgment for divorce: 1. Shall change the name of that spouse to a former name requested; [and] 2. May change the name of that spouse to any other name requested.’ The distinction is the point: a FORMER name is mandatory on request; any OTHER name is discretionary.

How much choice the judge has: mandatory on request as to a former name; discretionary as to any other name

Who may ask: either party (the statute says ‘either spouse … that person’s own name’)

Ask in the divorce — but missing it is not fatal

The statutory restoration in Maine has to be requested while the case is open. It is still much the cheapest moment to do it. But there is a way back afterwards, set out in the next section.

If the decree is already final

Section 1051 ties the change to the moment ‘when entering judgment for divorce’, so once the judgment is entered without it the fallback is a Probate Court petition under the Maine Probate Code. That route is comparatively cheap ($75) and carries no publication, but it does carry a mandatory criminal history record check that the divorce route does not.

Authority: 18-C M.R.S. § 1-701

The separate name-change petition

This is the route if the divorce route is closed to you, or if you want a name that is not a former one.

  • Statute: 18-C M.R.S. § 1-701
  • Court: Probate Court of the county in which the adult resides (District Court handles minors’ names where it has exclusive jurisdiction)
  • Filing fee: $75.00
  • Residency: An adult petitions in the Probate Court of the county in which the adult resides (18-C M.R.S. § 1-701(1)(A)). No minimum duration of residency was located.
  • Publication: no – and Maine goes further than merely omitting a requirement. 18-C M.R.S. § 1-701(2) affirmatively forbids it: ‘The court may not require public notice before approving the name change.’ SAFETY EXEMPTION: yes, and it is the strongest in this batch. Subsection 3-A lets the court ‘order that the name change be confidential if the court finds that, under the circumstances, the adult’s interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the record outweighs the public interest in the disclosure of the record,’ and the statute enumerates factors including whether the person has been a victim, safety concerns, and participation in the Address Confidentiality Program. Confidentiality is not available to a person under supervision for or required to register for certain sex offenses, and there is a presumption against confidentiality for recent serious criminal convictions. The court must also warn petitioners that a name change order is public unless confidentiality is granted.
  • Background check: Yes. 18-C M.R.S. § 1-701(5): ‘The court shall require an adult seeking a name change to undergo a criminal history record check.’ A check may also be required for a minor. An abstract of the name change order is transmitted to the State Bureau of Identification.

Official forms

What catches people out in Maine

Ask in the divorce. 19-A M.R.S. § 1051 makes a FORMER name mandatory on request, and it skips the criminal history record check that the Probate Court route requires.
Section 1051 only operates ‘when entering judgment for divorce’. There is no post-judgment window in Maine comparable to Maryland’s 18 months.
Maine’s adult name change goes to Probate Court, not to the District or Superior Court. Filing in the wrong court is the most common misstep.
If safety is your concern, ask for confidentiality under 18-C M.R.S. § 1-701(3-A) at the time you file, and say so if you are an Address Confidentiality Program participant – the statute names it as a factor.
The order is public by default. The statute requires the court to tell you that, but you have to affirmatively ask for confidentiality.
Worth knowing

Maine bans public notice outright for adult name changes: ‘The court may not require public notice before approving the name change.’ That is stronger than merely not requiring publication.

Maine is the only state in this batch with an express, factor-driven confidentiality standard for adult name changes that names victim status and Address Confidentiality Program participation.

Maine also requires a criminal history record check for every adult petitioner, which most states in this batch do not. The trade Maine offers is privacy in exchange for screening.

The $75 filing fee is set in the statute itself (18-C M.R.S. § 1-701(4)), not by county schedule – unusual and easy to verify.

Whether a hearing is required is left null; § 1-701 speaks in terms of the court receiving a petition and ‘may change the name’, and no primary source confirming a mandatory hearing was located.

Sources for this page

Found an error? Tell us — it goes on the corrections page with the date and how long it was live.

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Sources last checked30 August 2026
Page published30 August 2026
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