The rest of what we have written about North Carolina. Every figure is quoted from North Carolina’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Changing your name back in North Carolina
Whether you can get your former name back in the divorce itself — and what it costs in North Carolina if you miss that moment.
See a different stateNorth Carolina
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 North Carolina-specific.
The short version5 points · tap one to jump to it
- Restoring your name in the divorce — North Carolina restores a former name through the divorce itself, under N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 50-12(d).
- If the decree is already final — If you did not ask for your name back in the divorce, nothing is lost.
- 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.
- What catches people out in North Carolina — MAJOR 2025 CHANGE: North Carolina repealed its name-change notice requirement.
- Every state
In this subject 6
Restoring your name in the divorce
The short version5 points · tap one to jump to it
- Restoring your name in the divorce — North Carolina restores a former name through the divorce itself, under N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 50-12(d).
- If the decree is already final — If you did not ask for your name back in the divorce, nothing is lost.
- 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.
- What catches people out in North Carolina — MAJOR 2025 CHANGE: North Carolina repealed its name-change notice requirement.
- Every state
In this subject 6
North Carolina restores a former name through the divorce itself, under N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 50-12(d).
Sec. 50-12(d) permits a party to petition for the name change inside the divorce case: ‘In the complaint, or counterclaim for divorce filed by any person in this State, the person may petition the court to adopt any surname as provided by this section,’ and the court may authorize it in the divorce decree. The underlying right is in Sec. 50-12(a) and (a1): ‘Any woman whose marriage is dissolved by a decree of absolute divorce may, upon application to the clerk of court of the county in which she resides or where the divorce was granted setting forth her intention to do so, change her name to any of the following: (1) Her maiden name; or (2) The surname of a prior deceased husband; or (3) The surname of a prior living husband if she has children who have that husband’s surname.’ Subsection (a1) gives the same right to ‘A man whose marriage is dissolved by decree of absolute divorce … to his premarriage surname.’
How much choice the judge has: mandatory on request
Who may ask: the party changing the name
North Carolina does not require this to be settled before the decree is final.
If the decree is already final
This is North Carolina’s best feature and the single most important thing to know about the state. If you did not ask for your name back in the divorce, nothing is lost. Sec. 50-12(a)/(a1) lets you simply APPLY TO THE CLERK OF COURT – not petition a judge – at any time after the absolute divorce, in the county where you live or where the divorce was granted, stating your intention. The application asks for the former spouse’s full name and the county, state and term of court of the divorce. The fee under Sec. 50-12(e) is ten dollars. There is no hearing, no publication, no background check, no good-character affidavits, and none of the Chapter 101 machinery. Sec. 50-12(c) also retroactively validates a name you have already been using: ‘If an applicant, since the divorce, has adopted one of the surnames listed in subsection (a) or (a1) of this section, the applicant’s use and adoption of that name is validated.’
Authority: N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 50-12(a), (a1), (b), (e)
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: N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 101 (Sections 101-1 through 101-8), principally 101-2, 101-3, 101-4, 101-5
- Court: Clerk of Superior Court of the county where the applicant resides (special proceeding)
- Filing fee: $120.00 (schedule dated 2026-01-01)
- Residency: The applicant must file before the clerk of superior court ‘of the county in which the person resides’ (G.S. 101-2(a)) and must swear to being ‘a bona fide resident of, and domiciled in, the county’ (G.S. 101-5(a)(3)). No minimum duration is stated in the statute.
- Publication: No longer required. G.S. 101-2(b), which contained the notice requirement (posting notice at the courthouse door for 10 days), was ‘Repealed by Session Laws 2025-54, s. 4(a), effective December 1, 2025.’ The repeal note appears in the current statute text on the General Assembly’s own site. Note that North Carolina’s requirement was historically courthouse-door posting rather than newspaper publication, so pre-2025 sources describing ‘notice’ are describing that, not a newspaper ad.
- Background check: Yes, and this is a real hurdle. G.S. 101-5(a)(2) requires the applicant to submit ‘The results of a state and national criminal history record check conducted within 90 days of the date of application by the State Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or a Channeler approved by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’ (applicants under 16 are exempt). A national FBI check means fingerprinting in practice, it costs money on top of the filing fee, and it expires – the results must be under 90 days old when you file. G.S. 101-5(a)(3) additionally requires a sworn statement about residency and ‘whether or not the applicant has outstanding tax or child support obligations.’ G.S. 101-4 still requires proof of good character ‘by at least two citizens of the county who know his standing.’
- Hearing: not required
Official forms
What catches people out in North Carolina
DV PUBLICATION/CONFIDENTIALITY EXEMPTION: yes, but it is a records-confidentiality provision rather than a publication waiver (there is nothing left to waive). G.S. 101-2(c) makes the name-change record confidential where the applicant either participates in the Chapter 15C address confidentiality program or provides evidence of being ‘a victim of domestic violence, sexual offense, or stalking’ – acceptable evidence includes law enforcement records or documentation from a domestic violence program. Such records ‘shall be withheld from public inspection, and may be examined only by order of the court or with the written consent of the applicant.’
MAJOR 2025 CHANGE: North Carolina repealed its name-change notice requirement. G.S. 101-2(b) was repealed by S.L. 2025-54, s. 4(a), effective December 1, 2025. Any guide, form packet, or article written before December 2025 that tells you to post notice at the courthouse door is out of date.
The G.S. 50-12 route is handled by the CLERK, administratively, not by a judge. There is no hearing to attend. Many people do not realize this and hire counsel unnecessarily.
G.S. 50-12(c) validates a post-divorce name you have already been using informally, which is unusual and useful for someone who has been going by their maiden name for years without paperwork.
G.S. 101-8 separately covers resumption of a name by a widow or widower – a different section from the divorce provision.
The $10 fee in G.S. 50-12(e) comes from the statute itself. The $120 Chapter 101 fee is the general special proceeding cost (General Court of Justice fee $106 + facilities fee $10 + telecommunications fee $4) from the NC Judicial Branch’s Special Proceedings Costs Chart effective January 1, 2026; service and other add-ons are extra.
Sources for this page
- Restoration in the divorce: https://www.ncleg.gov/enactedlegislation/statutes/pdf/bysection/chapter_50/gs_50-12.pdf
- Separate name-change petition: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByChapter/Chapter_101.pdf
- Filing fee: https://www.nccourts.gov/assets/documents/publications/January%202026%20Special%20Proceedings%20Costs%20Chart%20-%20FINAL%2004.09.2026.pdf
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