Changing your name back in North Dakota

Whether you can get your former name back in the divorce itself — and what it costs in North Dakota 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 North Dakota-specific.

Restore it in the divorceYesN.D. Cent. Code Sec. 32-28-02(2) (recognizing a name change ‘in conjunction with … the dissolution or separation of a marriage under chapter 14-05’); N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 32-28-01 (district court’s authority to change names)
After the decree is finalYes separate statutory name-change petition
Newspaper publicationRequired Yes. The court may order the name change only after being satisfied that ‘thirty days’…
Background checkYes Sec. 32-28-02(2)
Separate petition fee$160.00Confirmed from an official schedule.
CourtDistrict Court of the county… The petitioner must have been a ‘bona fide resident of the county for at least six…

Restoring your name in the divorce

North Dakota restores a former name through the divorce itself, under N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 32-28-02(2) (recognizing a name change ‘in conjunction with … the dissolution or separation of a marriage under chapter 14-05’); N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 32-28-01 (district court’s authority to change names).

North Dakota has no dedicated ‘restoration of former name on divorce’ section inside the divorce chapter (Title 14, Chapter 05). Instead the name-change chapter expressly carves divorce out of its screening requirements, which confirms that the divorce court does it. Sec. 32-28-01: ‘The district court shall have the authority to change the names of persons and cities within this state.’ Sec. 32-28-02(2) exempts from the criminal history record check requirement ‘a request for a name change in conjunction with the annulment of a marriage under chapter 14-04 or the dissolution or separation of a marriage under chapter 14-05.’ In practice the North Dakota Courts’ own divorce packet asks the parties to check yes or no on whether a name change is wanted, in the Settlement Agreement (paragraphs 24 and 25) and then carries it into the Judgment.

How much choice the judge has: mandatory on request

Who may ask: either party

Ask in the divorce — but missing it is not fatal

The statutory restoration in North Dakota 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

The name change has to be in the Settlement Agreement and carried into the Judgment; the ND Courts divorce packet builds it in at that stage and offers no post-judgment mechanism. If the judgment is already entered without it, the ordinary route is the general adult name-change petition under Chapter 32-28 in the district court – which, once the divorce is final and the request is no longer ‘in conjunction with’ the dissolution, means the six-month county residency requirement, the criminal history record check, the $160 fee, and 30 days’ published notice all apply. Whether a North Dakota court would instead entertain a motion to amend the divorce judgment to add the name provision could not be confirmed on any primary source, so that possibility is noted but not asserted.

Authority: N.D. Cent. Code ch. 32-28

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.D. Cent. Code ch. 32-28 (Sections 32-28-01 through 32-28-04)
  • Court: District Court of the county where the petitioner resides
  • Filing fee: $160.00
  • Residency: The petitioner must have been a ‘bona fide resident of the county for at least six months’ before filing, and must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
  • Publication: Yes. The court may order the name change only after being satisfied that ‘thirty days’ previous notice of the intended application has been given’ by publication in a newspaper in the county. Sec. 32-28-02(3) supplies two waivers: ‘The court may waive publication of the notice when the proposed change relates only to a first or given name as distinguished from a surname or upon evidence satisfactory to the court that the petitioner has been the victim of domestic violence as defined in section 14-07.1-01.’ Because restoring a maiden name is a SURNAME change, the first waiver does not help – a survivor must rely on the domestic violence waiver.
  • Background check: Sec. 32-28-02(2): ‘When an individual files a petition for a name change, the court shall determine whether the petitioner has a criminal history in this state or any other state.’ The court may require ‘a statewide and nationwide criminal history record check’ conducted under Sec. 12-60-24, and the petitioner pays the cost. The ND Courts self-help instructions confirm: ‘You’re required to pay all costs associated with the criminal history record check.’ A nationwide check under 12-60-24 is fingerprint-based. Critically, this requirement does not apply to a name change requested in conjunction with a marriage license, an annulment under ch. 14-04, or a dissolution or separation under ch. 14-05.
  • Hearing: not required

Official forms

What catches people out in North Dakota

Ask for the name in the divorce. The statute deliberately exempts divorce-related name changes from the criminal history check, so doing it inside the divorce saves you the check, the fee, the six-month residency requirement and the newspaper notice. Doing it afterward costs you all four.
The North Dakota divorce forms put the name change in paragraphs 24 and 25 of the Settlement Agreement – a checkbox that is easy to skip past. Whatever you print there is what ends up in the Judgment, so spell the full first, middle and last name exactly.
The ‘first or given name’ publication waiver is useless for a maiden-name restoration, because a maiden name is a surname. Do not assume you qualify for it.
Six months of residency in the specific COUNTY, not just the state, is required for a standalone Chapter 32-28 petition. Moving counties after your divorce can reset this.
A felony conviction flips the burden against you: the petition is presumed to be made in bad faith and you must overcome that by clear and convincing evidence.
Worth knowing

DV PUBLICATION EXEMPTION: yes, explicit and statutory. Sec. 32-28-02(3) lets the court waive newspaper publication ‘upon evidence satisfactory to the court that the petitioner has been the victim of domestic violence as defined in section 14-07.1-01.’ It is a waiver the judge grants on evidence, not automatic, and North Dakota does not pair it with an automatic sealing provision the way New Mexico and New York do – so the file itself may remain a public court record even when publication is waived. That gap is worth flagging to survivors.

North Dakota is one of the states where the divorce chapter itself is silent on name restoration. Title 14, Chapter 05 (Divorce) contains no name-restoration section; the only textual acknowledgment that divorce courts do this is the exemption clause in the name-change chapter, Sec. 32-28-02(2), plus a passing reference in Sec. 14-05-24.2(2)(j) (‘Whether either party changed the party’s name through the judgment and decree’) in the summary real estate disposition judgment provision. Both were read directly. No statute number was invented to fill the gap.

The criminal-history screening is unusually aggressive for a name-change statute: it is statewide AND nationwide, at the petitioner’s expense, and a felony conviction creates a rebuttable presumption of bad faith. The court must also report the name change to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation within ten days if the person has any criminal history.

The $160 filing fee comes from the ND Courts’ own adult name change instructions. No dated statewide fee schedule was located to pin an effective date, so fee_effective_date is null.

A hearing is not automatic: ‘A hearing isn’t required for Petitions for Name Changes. However, the judge assigned to your name change case may decide a hearing is necessary.’

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Sources last checked30 August 2026
Page published30 August 2026
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