More on Missouri

The rest of what we have written about Missouri. Every figure is quoted from Missouri’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.

Changing your name back in Missouri

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

See a different stateMissouri
AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming
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 Missouri-specific.

Restore it in the divorceYesIn the divorce, on request.
After the decree is finalYes separate statutory name-change petition
Newspaper publicationRequired Publication happens AFTER the order, not before. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 527.290
Background checkNo No fingerprints and no criminal background check are required by §§ 527.270-527.290. But…
Separate petition feeNot establishedWe could not confirm this from an official fee schedule, so treat it as indicative and call the clerk before you write the check.
CourtCircuit Court (county of… Petition is presented ‘to the circuit court in the county of the petitioner’s residence’…

Restoring your name in the divorce

Missouri restores a former name through the divorce itself, under .

Who may ask: the party changing the name

Ask in the divorce — but missing it is not fatal

The statutory restoration in Missouri 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

If the name change was not pleaded and put in the dissolution judgment, the route is the ordinary circuit court name-change petition under §§ 527.270 to 527.290 and Missouri Supreme Court Rule 95. That route carries the newspaper-publication requirement in § 527.290 that a dissolution judgment does not.

Authority: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 527.270

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: Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 527.270 to 527.290; Mo. Sup. Ct. R. 95
  • Court: Circuit Court (county of residence)
  • Residency: Petition is presented ‘to the circuit court in the county of the petitioner’s residence’ (§ 527.270.1). No minimum durational residency is stated.
  • Publication: Publication happens AFTER the order, not before. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 527.290: ‘Public notice of such a change of name shall be given at least three times in a newspaper published in the county where such person is residing, within twenty days after the order of court is made.’ If no newspaper is published in the county, notice runs in a newspaper published in the City of St. Louis or at the seat of government. The Missouri Courts self-help page describes it as once weekly for three consecutive weeks within 20 days after the order.
  • Background check: No fingerprints and no criminal background check are required by §§ 527.270-527.290. But § 527.270.2 is an absolute bar for one group: ‘Notwithstanding subsection 1 of this section, no person required to register under sections 589.400 to 589.425 shall change his or her name for the period of time he or she is required to register on the registry.’ The petition must also state a concise reason for the change, and the judge must be satisfied the change ‘would be proper and not detrimental to the interests of any other person.’
  • Hearing: not required

Official forms

What catches people out in Missouri

Missouri’s publication runs AFTER the judge signs the order, within 20 days – so people who think they have finished when the order is signed have not, and the change is not properly completed until notice is published.
There is no Missouri statute in Chapter 452 that restores a former name in a dissolution. The Missouri Courts self-help page says the name change ‘is pled in the original pleadings and placed in the final judgment’ – meaning you must ask for it in the divorce petition itself.
A registered sex offender cannot change their name at all while the registration obligation lasts (§ 527.270.2) – not merely a heightened standard, an outright bar.
A hearing is not always necessary: the Missouri Courts self-help page says the court may enter the order by mail without a hearing if there is no opposition.
The petition must be verified by affidavit and must state that the change will not be detrimental to any other person.
Worth knowing

MISSOURI HAS AN EXPLICIT DOMESTIC-VIOLENCE PUBLICATION EXEMPTION AND IT IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST. Under § 527.290 the public-notice requirement does not apply where the petitioner is a victim of a crime in which the court finds domestic violence occurred (as defined in § 455.010), a victim of child abuse under § 210.110, or a victim of domestic violence by a family or household member under § 455.010. In those cases the statute adds that ‘any system operated by the judiciary that is designed to provide public case information electronically shall not post the name change’ – so the exemption covers the online case docket, not just the newspaper.

I could not verify a statutory basis for name restoration inside a Missouri dissolution. I read the Chapter 452 section list (452.300 to 452.415) and the text of § 452.305 (the dissolution judgment section) and neither contains a name provision. The ‘available: true’ answer rests on the Missouri Courts pro bono self-help page stating that a name change can be incorporated into the divorce and placed in the final judgment; the statute field is null because there is no divorce-specific name statute to cite, and court_discretion and what it says are null for the same reason.

Missouri circuit court filing fees are set by statute plus local surcharges and vary by circuit; I could not find a single primary statewide figure for a name-change petition, so the fee is null rather than guessed.

RSMo 527.270 as displayed on the Revisor’s site carries an effective date of August 28, 2026 – i.e. the version quoted here is the current one as of this check.

Sources for this page

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

Every state

ALAlabamaAKAlaskaAZArizonaARArkansasCACaliforniaCOColoradoCTConnecticutDEDelawareFLFloridaGAGeorgiaHIHawaiiIDIdahoILIllinoisINIndianaIAIowaKSKansasKYKentuckyLALouisianaMEMaineMDMarylandMAMassachusettsMIMichiganMNMinnesotaMSMississippiMOMissouriMTMontanaNENebraskaNVNevadaNHNew HampshireNJNew JerseyNMNew MexicoNYNew YorkNCNorth CarolinaNDNorth DakotaOHOhioOKOklahomaOROregonPAPennsylvaniaRIRhode IslandSCSouth CarolinaSDSouth DakotaTNTennesseeTXTexasUTUtahVTVermontVAVirginiaWAWashingtonWVWest VirginiaWIWisconsinWYWyoming
Sources last checked30 August 2026
Page published30 August 2026
What this means. This is when the sources on this page were last read against their originals — statutes, court rules, official schedules — taken from the date this page was built from its sources. It is not the date the page was last edited. Adding a link or fixing a typo does not move it; re-reading the statute does. Law changes without notice, so treat anything time-sensitive as needing a fresh check. Where we get something wrong we publish it at thecusp.app/corrections with the date, what changed, and how long the error was live.