United States · after divorce
Take your name back — the after-divorce kit
Certified decree, SS-5, DMV, passport, banks — plus the post-divorce list nobody hands you: beneficiaries, joint accounts, authorized-user cards. In the order that avoids doing anything twice.
Your current name
Your new name
Divorce finalized on
State
Email (for your records on the letters)
Employer (optional — adds an HR letter)
Your banks, comma separated (one letter each)
No signup. See your full step-by-step plan first.
Questions people actually ask
- My divorce is final but the decree doesn't mention my name — now what?
- Ask the clerk of the court that finalized your divorce about a post-judgment motion to restore your former name. In most states it's a simple form, far easier than a general name-change petition. The kit's step 1 walks through it before you spend time anywhere else.
- What documents do agencies want?
- A certified copy of your divorce decree showing the name restoration (not a photocopy), plus your current ID. Get 2–4 certified copies from the court clerk — SSA and the DMV each want to see one.
- What's the right order?
- Social Security first with form SS-5 — everything else validates against SSA. Wait ~48 hours, then the DMV, then passport, then banks and employer once your new ID exists. That exact sequence is the kit.
- Is this different from the marriage kit?
- Same discipline, different evidence and different traps: the decree replaces the marriage certificate, and post-divorce you should also re-check beneficiaries, joint accounts and authorized-user cards — the kit includes that list.
WeddingNameChange is a document-preparation aid, not a law firm. One pass unlocks every kit on this site — US marriage, UK, Canada and Australia.