More on Nebraska

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

Changing your name back in Nebraska

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

A name going back to what it was An identity card with a photo and a name line, and an arrow curving back over the card to show the name being restored.
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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 Nebraska-specific.

Restore it in the divorceYesNeb. Rev. Stat. § 42-380
After the decree is finalYes separate statutory name-change petition
Newspaper publicationRequired Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,271(2)(a)
Background checkNo No fingerprints and no criminal background check are required by §§ 25-21,270 to…
Separate petition fee$57.00 ($42.00 docket…Confirmed from an official schedule.
CourtDistrict Court (county of… The petition must set forth ‘that the petitioner has been a bona fide citizen of such…
What do you need?
Restoring your name in the divorceIf the decree is already finalThe separate name-change petitionWhat catches people out in…Sources for this pageEvery state
6 sections on this page. Pick one, or show everything.
The short version5 points · tap one to jump to it
  1. Restoring your name in the divorce — Nebraska restores a former name through the divorce itself, under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-380.
  2. If the decree is already final — Section 42-380(1) requires the request to be included in the dissolution or annulment pleading and requires the decree itself to specify the change, so a decree entered without it does not restore the name.
  3. 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.
  4. What catches people out in Nebraska — NEBRASKA HAS AN EXPLICIT SAFETY EXEMPTION FROM PUBLICATION.
  5. Every state
In this subject 6

Restoring your name in the divorce

Nebraska restores a former name through the divorce itself, under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-380.

“When a pleading is filed pursuant to section 42-353 or pursuant to an action for annulment as authorized by section 42-373, either the plaintiff or the defendant may include a request to restore his or her former name. The court shall grant such request except for good cause shown. The mere fact that a parent and child may have different surnames following a dissolution of marriage or annulment shall not be sufficient to constitute good cause. The decree of dissolution or declaration of annulment shall specifically provide for the name change, giving both the old name and the name as it will be after the decree or declaration. A change of name granted pursuant to this section shall become effective on the same date that the decree of dissolution or declaration of annulment, as the case may be, is entered. The requirements of sections 25-21,270 to 25-21,273 shall not apply to this section.”

How much choice the judge has: mandatory on request – ‘The court shall grant such request except for good cause shown’

Who may ask: either party

Ask in the divorce — but missing it is not fatal

The statutory restoration in Nebraska 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 42-380(1) requires the request to be included in the dissolution or annulment pleading and requires the decree itself to specify the change, so a decree entered without it does not restore the name. The documented fallback is the ordinary district court name-change petition under §§ 25-21,270 to 25-21,273 – which, unlike § 42-380, does carry newspaper publication. Section 42-380(2) separately provides that for a decree entered before August 25, 1989 in which restoration was not requested or granted, the party is not hindered from ‘effecting a common-law name change.’

Authority: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-21,270 and 25-21,271

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: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-21,270 (authority) and 25-21,271 (procedure)
  • Court: District Court (county of residence)
  • Filing fee: $57.00 ($42.00 docket fee plus $15.00 records management fee)
  • Residency: The petition must set forth ‘that the petitioner has been a bona fide citizen of such county for at least one year prior to the filing of the petition’ (§ 25-21,271(1)(a)).
  • Publication: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,271(2)(a): ‘Except as provided in subdivision (2)(b) of this section, notice of the filing of the petition shall be published in a newspaper in the county, and if no newspaper is printed in the county, then in a newspaper of general circulation therein. The notice shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks.’ Publication is of the FILING of the petition, i.e. before the order.
  • Background check: No fingerprints and no criminal background check are required by §§ 25-21,270 to 25-21,273. After an order is entered, § 25-21,271(5) requires the clerk of the district court to deliver a copy of the name-change order to the Department of Health and Human Services (for use under §§ 28-376 and 28-718) and to the sex offender registration and community notification division of the Nebraska State Patrol (for use under § 29-4004).
  • Hearing: required

Official forms

What catches people out in Nebraska

ONE YEAR of residency in the SAME COUNTY is required for the standalone petition. Someone who moved counties after separating cannot file until the year is up – which is a strong reason to get the restoration into the divorce decree instead.
Section 42-380 expressly switches off the publication statutes (‘The requirements of sections 25-21,270 to 25-21,273 shall not apply to this section’), so restoring a name in the divorce means no newspaper notice at all.
The decree must actually recite BOTH the old name and the new name; a decree that merely says the request is granted does not satisfy § 42-380.
The restoration takes effect on the date the decree is entered – not on some later date.
The court cannot refuse restoration just because you will then have a different surname from your child – the statute forecloses that reason by name.
The district court fee is set by statute (§ 33-106) at a $42 docket fee plus a $15 records management fee taxed as costs; counties do not set their own.
Worth knowing

NEBRASKA HAS AN EXPLICIT SAFETY EXEMPTION FROM PUBLICATION. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,271(2)(b): ‘The court may waive the notice requirement of subdivision (2)(a) of this section upon a showing by the petitioner that such notice would endanger the petitioner.’ It is discretionary (‘may waive’) and it is framed as endangerment generally rather than domestic violence specifically, so it covers DV survivors but is not limited to them. Note the statute waives NOTICE only; it does not, by its terms, seal the court file.

Restoration in the divorce is nearly automatic – ‘shall grant except for good cause shown’ – and is one of the more petitioner-friendly formulations among these ten states.

The $57 total is the statutory district court fee under § 33-106 for a civil case; the Revisor’s page does not display an effective date.

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
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.