Last name retention

[newood2]

Why do some divorce women keep their married and maiden names? Any legal experts on here?

[Mrs. Wallnut]

I know a few people who do this, I have an adopted sister who has kept her ex's last name because of one of her sons. Now that she has remarried she has the name hyphenated.

[Anna]

Simplistically: In addition to what Mrs. W said, I think it also depends on which name they're better known with. If she moves into a town as a married woman, and develops friendship and social standing there, she's more likely to keep her married name after the divorce because that's how most people know her. If after the divorce she moves back to her hometown, chances are she'll go back to her maiden name. If she established a professional career, she'll stick with whichever name she was known as. Some women who have big careers before getting married end up with keeping their maiden name or hyphenating.

I'm not a legal expert, but I know a lot of divorcees. The husbands always want the ex-wives to stop using the husband's name. Most of the women I know who did not remarry kept the ex-husband's name anyway. Not fun, and sometimes confusing or embarrassing, when there are two Mrs. John Smiths in town. DAMHIK.

[scmhogg]

To cause their ex-husbands PAIN.

Steve

[eezlock]

last name retention?

Most ex's are just that..... a royal PITA ! They need to be be treated like a
an old worn out discarded item....kicked to the curb! eezlock

[Uncle Cracker]

My ex kept my last name. It's the only thing I ever gave her that she didn't manage to screw up...

[atgcpaul]

My wife kept her last name partly to honor her father and not because she
had a big career at the time. It was just easier all around to do it this way
for us. Didn't have to change all her official documents, etc. Don't ask my
parents about it, though, who found out the day of the rehearsal. We've
been married almost 7 years now and it wasn't until this past Christmas that
they finally stopped putting Mr. and Mrs. Paul on the front of the card.
We agreed that our kids would have my last name, though.

[germdoc]

In retrospect the fact that my soon-to-be-ex-wife didn't take my last name may have been a clue...

[Tom Slick]

My mom kept my dad's last name when they divorced. She says it is because she loved his family and was proud to be a member of it. I also know she had some animosity toward her own family and it was a way of staying disassociated from them.

My wife kept her last name as a second middle name because her family has all girls, even her cousins are mostly girls, so she wanted to keep her father's name active. apparently a last name of 12 letters (mine) isn't long enough so she wanted to keep an extra 5 in the middle. we are still married though.

[Navycraig]

My ex kept my last name, but I have to believe that if she got remarried (but she won't because of getting alimony from me) she'd change to his.
When I proposed to my current wife, he keeping her ex's last name was a deal breaker. It was mine or going back to her maiden name or no deal. She took mine.