Changing your name back in Ohio

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

See a different stateOhio
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 Ohio-specific.

Restore it in the divorceYesOhio Rev. Code Sec. 3105.16
After the decree is finalYes separate statutory name-change petition
Newspaper publicationNot required Not required by statute, but very commonly required in practice
Background checkNo Discretionary, not mandatory. Sec. 2717.19
Separate petition feevaries by countySet locally, so the number depends on where you file. The state pages below name a county example where we could confirm one.
CourtProbate Court of the county in… Sec. 2717.03 requires the application to state that ‘The applicant has been a bona fide…

Restoring your name in the divorce

Ohio restores a former name through the divorce itself, under Ohio Rev. Code Sec. 3105.16.

The entire section is one sentence: ‘When a divorce is granted the court of common pleas shall, if the person so desires, restore any name that the person had before the marriage.’

How much choice the judge has: mandatory on request

Who may ask: the party changing the name

Ask in the divorce — but missing it is not fatal

The statutory restoration in Ohio 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

Sec. 3105.16 is written as something the court does ‘when a divorce is granted,’ so it is tied to the moment of the decree. If the restoration was not requested and put in the decree, the reliable route in Ohio is a fresh application for change of name in the PROBATE court of the county where you live – a different court from the common pleas domestic relations division that granted the divorce. That means a new case number, a new filing fee, the 60-day county residency showing, and whatever notice the probate judge sets. Some Ohio practitioners instead move the domestic relations court to modify the decree, but no primary source confirming that route was located, so it is not asserted here.

Authority: Ohio Rev. Code ch. 2717 (Sections 2717.02, 2717.03, 2717.08, 2717.09)

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: Ohio Rev. Code ch. 2717 (rewritten by H.B. 7, 134th General Assembly, effective August 17, 2021)
  • Court: Probate Court of the county in which the applicant resides
  • Filing fee: varies by county – see notes (schedule dated 2025-08-14 (Cuyahoga County filing guide revision date))
  • Residency: Sec. 2717.03 requires the application to state that ‘The applicant has been a bona fide resident of the county for at least sixty days prior to the filing of the application.’ Both Cuyahoga and Franklin County probate courts enforce the 60-day county residency in their filing guides.
  • Publication: Not required by statute, but very commonly required in practice – this is a rare case where the statute and the county reality differ. Sec. 2717.08 says only: ‘The probate court may hold a hearing on an application. Except as provided in sections 2717.11 and 2717.14 of the Revised Code, if the court requires a hearing, it shall set the manner, scope, and content of the hearing notice the applicant must serve.’ Chapter 2717 as rewritten in 2021 contains no across-the-board newspaper publication mandate. But probate courts routinely exercise that discretion in favor of publication: Franklin County states it will ‘publish the application in a local newspaper of general circulation 30 days prior to the hearing,’ with publication costs ‘starting at $72.00’ borne by the applicant. Assume you will publish unless your county says otherwise or you qualify under Sec. 2717.11.
  • Background check: Discretionary, not mandatory. Sec. 2717.19: ‘(A) On receipt of an application, the probate court may order a criminal records check. (B) Any fee required for the criminal records check shall be paid by the applicant.’ The Cuyahoga County adult filing guide echoes this – the court ‘may require additional documentation, require a criminal background check, or hold a formal hearing on the Application.’ No fingerprints are required as a matter of course.
  • Hearing: not required

Official forms

What catches people out in Ohio

Ask for it in the divorce. Sec. 3105.16 operates ‘when a divorce is granted’ – once the decree is entered without it, you are looking at a whole separate probate case in a different courthouse.
The name change and the divorce are in DIFFERENT courts in Ohio. Divorce is common pleas (domestic relations); a standalone name change is probate. People lose weeks calling the wrong clerk.
Publication is not in the statute but your county probate court will probably order it anyway, and you pay for it. In Franklin County the newspaper bill starts around $72 on top of a filing fee that starts at $128.
60 days of residency in the COUNTY is required, and it is a sworn statement in the application. Moving right after a separation can push your filing date out.
If you need the file sealed for safety, say so up front – Franklin County notes that ‘Confidential name changes cannot be e-filed,’ so the electronic route is closed to you and you have to file in person or as the court directs.
Worth knowing

DV / SAFETY EXEMPTION: yes, and it is unusually strong because it is mandatory. ORC Sec. 2717.11 provides that when the applicant gives satisfactory proof that open records or publication of the hearing notice would jeopardize the applicant’s personal safety, ‘the court shall waive the hearing notice requirement,’ and if the court grants the name change ‘the court shall order the records of the proceeding to be sealed and to be opened only by order of the court for good cause shown or at the request of the applicant for any reason.’ Both verbs are ‘shall.’ It waives notice AND seals the file. The statute is framed in terms of personal safety generally rather than naming domestic violence, so it covers DV survivors, stalking victims, and trans applicants alike.

Ohio’s name-change chapter was completely rewritten by H.B. 7 of the 134th General Assembly, effective August 17, 2021. Older guides describing a mandatory hearing, a mandatory newspaper notice 30 days before the hearing, and a one-year county residency requirement are describing the pre-2021 statute. Under current law the hearing is discretionary (‘The probate court MAY hold a hearing’), notice is whatever the court sets, and residency dropped to 60 days.

Sec. 3105.16 restores ‘any name that the person had before the marriage’ – not merely a birth or maiden name. That wording is broader than most states’ restoration statutes.

There is no statewide Ohio name-change filing fee. Verified county examples: Cuyahoga County Probate Court, $100.00 at submission including convenience fees (filing guide updated 8/14/2025); Franklin County Probate Court, ‘Starts at $128.00’ plus publication ‘starting at $72.00.’ A statewide number would be an invention.

The criminal records check under Sec. 2717.19 is permissive (‘may order’), which is a meaningfully lighter touch than neighboring states – but it is at the judge’s option, so a particular county can still ask for one.

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.