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Divorce and your name

Keeping your married name after divorce

Yes, you can. No law says you have to give up your married name when you divorce, and many people keep it, often to share a surname with their children. Here’s what it means for your records, and what to do if you want to tweak it now or change it later.

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Nothing to update if you keep it
Change it whenever you’re ready
Mix your names with a deed poll
Your options, with the rules behind them

Checked against GOV.UK and HM Passport Office guidance. Sources are listed at the end.

Updated: 30 October 2026
On this pageQuick answerCan you keep it?Mix your namesChanging it laterChildren and remarriageFAQs

The quick answer

You can keep your married name after a divorce for as long as you like. No law says you have to change it, there’s no deadline for going back, and you don’t need to tell anyone, because your name isn’t changing.

If you’d like to keep your married surname but bring your maiden name back, as a middle name or a double-barrel, that’s a change of name, and a deed poll covers it. Ours is £14.95 with free tracked delivery.

The basics

Can I keep my married name?

Yes. A divorce doesn’t change your name automatically, and there’s no time limit on going back to your old name if you decide to later. Many people keep their married name to share a surname with their children, because it’s the name they’re known by at work, or simply because they like it.

What you wantWhat you need
Keep your married name exactly as it isNothing. Your name isn’t changing
Change from Mrs to MsNothing. Ask organisations to update your title
Keep your married surname and add your maiden name as a middle nameA deed poll
Double-barrel your maiden and married surnamesA deed poll
Go back to your maiden name laterYour certificates and decree absolute or final order, though some organisations still ask for a deed poll
Choose a new name altogetherA deed poll

A title such as Mrs or Ms isn’t part of your legal name, and GOV.UK says a deed poll can’t be used to change titles, so just ask each organisation to update it. GOV.UK: change your name by deed poll

Keep it, with a twist

Keeping your married name and bringing your own back

A popular middle ground is to keep your married surname, so you still match your children, and add your maiden name back as a middle name. HM Passport Office treats adding a forename as a change of name, so you’ll need a change of name document such as a deed poll, plus evidence that you use the name. HM Passport Office: change of name applications

Your name nowYour name with a deed poll
Emma Louise PriceEmma Louise Clark Price
Emma Louise PriceEmma Louise Clark-Price
Emma Louise PriceEmma Clark Price

Our guide to keeping your maiden name as a middle name works the same way after a divorce.

If you change your mind

Changing your name later

There’s no deadline. If you decide to go back to your maiden name in a year or in twenty, GOV.UK says you may be able to do it with your marriage certificate and decree absolute, or your civil partnership certificate and final order, but that some organisations won’t change your name back without a deed poll.

For your passport, HM Passport Office’s route for reverting to a birth name uses your birth and marriage certificates, a signed statement and evidence that you use the name. Our guide to changing your name after divorce covers every route. GOV.UK: other name changes on a passport

Ready for a change?

A deed poll works with every organisation, whenever you decide. Order by 6pm, Monday to Friday, for same-day processing.

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Worth knowing

Children, remarriage and your ex

  • Your children. Keeping your married name means you keep sharing a surname with children who have it. If you change yours later, theirs doesn’t change with it. Changing a child’s surname needs everyone with parental responsibility to agree, or a court order, and our child name change guide explains.
  • If you remarry, you can take your new spouse’s surname with your new marriage certificate, or choose a combination with a deed poll. See combining surnames.
  • Your ex. You don’t need your former spouse’s permission to keep the name or to change it.
  • Your records stay as they are. If you keep your name, there’s nothing to update, though you may want your bank and others to change your title.
Your questions answered

Frequently asked questions

Yes. No law says you have to change it, and a divorce doesn’t change your name automatically.

No. You don’t need your former spouse’s permission to keep your married name.

No, because your name isn’t changing. You might want to update your title, for example from Mrs to Ms, and you don’t need a deed poll for that.

Yes, with a deed poll. Adding your maiden name as a middle name, or double-barrelling both surnames, is a change of name, and HM Passport Office asks for a change of name document for it.

No. You can go back whenever you like. GOV.UK says some organisations won’t change your name back without a deed poll.

Keeping it means you’ll still share a surname with children who have it. If you change your name later, your children’s names don’t change with it.

Check the detail

Sources for this guide

Guidance and reference pages

The official rules this guide is based on, checked in October 2026.

Continue your name change

Related guides

Changing your name after divorce

Reverting, keeping or choosing a new name.

Keeping your maiden name as a middle name

Why it needs a deed poll, and how to do it.

Changing your name while separated

You don’t have to wait for the divorce.

Ready when you are

Keep it, change it or mix it.

Whatever you choose, our deed poll makes it official. Prepared from your details, checked by a person and posted free for £14.95.

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