Name change after divorce, state by state
The federal steps do not vary. These do — whether your divorce court can restore a former name at all, whether you have to ask before the decree is signed, and what a separate petition costs you in money, publicity and paperwork if you miss that moment.
Start with the order of operations
Certified decree, then Social Security, then the license, then the passport — and the reasons that order is not negotiable are on the main name-change page.
States with a divorce-restoration statute48 of 50
In the rest, the court’s general power does the work and there is no section to
cite — which is exactly where wrong citations appear in published guides.
States requiring newspaper publication21 of 50
On a separate adult petition. Four states dropped or barred it between 2022 and 2025,
so older guides overstate this.
States running a background check17 of 50
Fingerprints, a state police check, or a registry search on a standalone petition.
Often waived for a straight restoration.
Fifty states at a glance
“When” is about the divorce route: Before the decree means the request has to be made while the case is open. Publication, background check and fee all describe the separate petition — the fallback — not the restoration in the divorce, which is usually free of all three.
| State | Restore in divorce | When | Publication | Background check | Petition fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Yes | Before the decree | No | Yes | varies by county |
| Alaska | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $200.00 |
| Arizona | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | varies by county |
| Arkansas | Yes | — | No | No | $165.00 |
| California | Yes | Either | Yes | No | $435.00 |
| Colorado | Yes | Either | Yes | Yes | varies by county |
| Connecticut | Yes | Either | No | Yes | $250.00 |
| Delaware | Yes | Either | No | No | $85.00 |
| Florida | Yes | — | No | Yes | varies by county |
| Georgia | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | varies by county |
| Hawaii | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $56.00 |
| Idaho | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $166.00 |
| Illinois | Yes | Either | No | No | varies by county |
| Indiana | Yes | — | Yes | No | varies by county |
| Iowa | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | $195.00 |
| Kansas | Yes | Either | No | No | $173.00 (statutory… |
| Kentucky | Yes | — | No | No | — |
| Louisiana | Yes | Either | — | Yes | — |
| Maine | Yes | Before the decree | No | Yes | $75.00 |
| Maryland | Yes | Either | Yes | No | $165.00 |
| Massachusetts | Yes | — | No | Yes | — |
| Michigan | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $175.00 |
| Minnesota | Yes | Before the decree | No | Yes | $310.00 base, plus… |
| Mississippi | No statute | — | No | No | varies by county |
| Missouri | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | — |
| Montana | Yes | — | Yes | No | $90.00 |
| Nebraska | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $57.00 ($42.00… |
| Nevada | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | Yes | varies by county |
| New Hampshire | Yes | Either | No | Yes | — |
| New Jersey | Yes | Either | No | Yes | — |
| New Mexico | No statute | — | Yes | No | $132.00 |
| New York | Yes | Either | No | No | $210.00 in Supreme… |
| North Carolina | Yes | Either | No | Yes | $120.00 |
| North Dakota | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | Yes | $160.00 |
| Ohio | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | varies by county |
| Oklahoma | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | varies by county |
| Oregon | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | $124.00 |
| Pennsylvania | Yes | Either | Yes | Yes | varies by county |
| Rhode Island | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | $30.00 |
| South Carolina | Yes | Before the decree | No | Yes | $150.00 |
| South Dakota | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $72.00 |
| Tennessee | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | varies by county |
| Texas | Yes | Before the decree | No | Yes | varies by county |
| Utah | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | not separately… |
| Vermont | Yes | Before the decree | No | Yes | $150.00 |
| Virginia | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | $20.00 statutory… |
| Washington | Yes | Before the decree | No | No | varies by county |
| West Virginia | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $200.00 general… |
| Wisconsin | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $130.00 statutory… |
| Wyoming | Yes | Before the decree | Yes | No | $160.00 |
A dash means we could not establish it from an official source and would rather show a gap than a guess. Fees marked on the state pages as unconfirmed are county-set or drawn from a general civil filing line rather than a named name-change fee.
Pick your 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.