How Do I Restore My Name After a Florida Divorce? Fla. Stat. § 68.07, Explained

By Nadia Pazos, Family Law Attorney, Pazos Law Group · Updated August 11, 2026

Restoring a former name is the cheapest thing you will ever ask a divorce court for — if you ask at the right moment. Fla. Stat. § 68.07 is Florida’s general change-of-name statute, and § 68.07(9) expressly carves dissolution cases out of it. That single subsection explains why the request belongs in your divorce petition and not in a separate lawsuit.

Where Does Florida Law Put Name Restoration?

In two different places, depending on when you ask. Florida’s general change-of-name statute is Fla. Stat. § 68.07, in chapter 68, “Miscellaneous proceedings.” Its final subsection removes divorce cases from its scope:

“This section does not apply to any change of name in proceedings for dissolution of marriage or for adoption of children.” — § 68.07(9)

Chapter 61, which governs dissolution of marriage, contains no separate name-restoration section either. The consequence is practical rather than mysterious: restoration in a divorce is a form of relief you plead and the judge grants in the final judgment, using the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms — the 12.901 series of petitions and the 12.990 series of final judgments — rather than a statutory checklist. If you never plead it, there is nothing in the judgment to restore it.

How Do You Ask for It in the Divorce?

Three steps, all of them mechanical:

1. Plead it. The dissolution proceeding is commenced under Fla. Stat. § 61.043(1) by filing a petition in the circuit court, served together with a summons in the same manner as papers in civil actions generally. The Supreme Court approved petition forms include a request to restore a former name; check the box and write the former name out in full.
2. Spell it, exactly. First, middle and last, spelled the way it appears on the birth certificate or prior marriage record. A misspelling in a final judgment is a correction motion later.
3. Get it into the judgment. The final judgment is the operative document. Read it before it is signed and confirm the restoration paragraph is there and correct.

If your case settles, make sure the marital settlement agreement and the proposed final judgment both carry the request. Agreements between the parties do not by themselves change a legal name; the judgment does.

Is Restoration Automatic If You Ask?

Effectively, yes — when the request is made in the dissolution and identifies a former name, it is granted as a matter of course. There is no fee for it, no separate hearing, and no additional filing. What is not automatic is the asking. Courts do not restore names on their own motion, and a final judgment that is silent on the subject leaves you with your married name until you do something about it.

That is the single most common and most avoidable mistake on this topic: assuming the divorce itself undoes the name. It does not. Fla. Stat. § 61.052(4) provides that a judgment of dissolution of marriage “shall result in each spouse having the status of being single and unmarried” — status, not name.

Can You Take Any New Name, or Only a Former One?

Only a former one. A dissolution court restores a name you previously held — a birth or maiden name, or a surname from an earlier marriage. It is not a vehicle for adopting a name you have never used.

A genuinely new name is a general change of name, and it goes back into Fla. Stat. § 68.07 with all of its requirements: a verified petition under § 68.07(3) showing bona fide residence and domicile in the county, date and place of birth, residence history, occupation and employment for the 5 years preceding the filing, prior name changes, other names used, bankruptcy, arrest and criminal history, sexual-predator or sexual-offender registration under s. 775.21 or s. 943.0435, money judgments, and — under § 68.07(3)(k) — that the petition is filed for no ulterior or illegal purpose and will not invade the property rights of others. It also requires the criminal history records check described next.

Does Restoring a Former Name Require Fingerprints?

No, and this is the most useful thing in the statute. Fla. Stat. § 68.07(2)(a) provides:

“Before the court hearing on a petition for a name change, the petitioner must have fingerprints submitted for a state and national criminal history records check, except if a former name is being restored.”

And § 68.07(4) follows through on the timing:

“The hearing on a petition for restoring a former name may be held immediately after it is filed. The hearing on any other petition for a name change may be held immediately after the clerk receives the results of the criminal history records check.”

So even the post-divorce route — a stand-alone § 68.07 petition — is materially faster and cheaper when what you are asking for is restoration rather than a new identity. The cost of processing fingerprints and the records check, which § 68.07(2)(c) places on the petitioner, does not arise at all.

What If the Divorce Is Already Final?

You are not stuck; you are simply in chapter 68 instead of chapter 61. Fla. Stat. § 68.07(1) provides that chancery courts have jurisdiction to change the name of any person residing in this state on petition of the person filed in the county in which he or she resides. Because § 68.07(9) only removes name changes made in a dissolution proceeding, a later petition by a divorced person is an ordinary § 68.07 case — with the fingerprint exception above if a former name is being restored.

Expect a filing fee, a verified petition, and a short hearing. It is a self-inflicted expense, which is exactly why the request belongs in the divorce petition the first time.

What Does the Clerk Do After the Judgment?

Two reporting duties, both in § 68.07 and both worth knowing because they explain why some agencies already have your new name and others do not:

• Vital statistics. Under § 68.07(5), on filing the final judgment the clerk sends a report of the judgment to the Office of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health if the birth occurred in Florida. For a person born in another state, the clerk instead provides the petitioner with a certified copy of the final judgment.
• Law enforcement and motor vehicles. Under § 68.07(6), the clerk must, within 5 business days after the filing of the final judgment, send a report of the judgment to the Department of Law Enforcement, which must send a copy of the report to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

None of that relieves you of updating your own records. It simply means the paper trail exists.

Which Documents Do You Change, and in What Order?

Order matters, because each agency wants the previous one’s output.

1. Certified copies of the final judgment. Get several from the clerk. Agencies want originals or certified copies, not photocopies.
2. Social Security. Update the Social Security record first; most other agencies verify against it. The Social Security Administration accepts a certified divorce decree as the name-change document.
3. Florida driver licence or ID card. Fla. Stat. § 322.19(1) requires that a person who changes his or her legal name after applying for or receiving a driver licence or identification card “must within 30 days thereafter obtain a replacement license or card that reflects the change.” Section 322.19(4) makes a violation a nonmoving violation with a penalty as provided in s. 318.18(2).
4. U.S. passport. The State Department has its own forms and evidence rules; the certified judgment is the underlying document.
5. Everything else. Employer and payroll, banks and brokerages, mortgage and insurance carriers, professional licences, voter registration, deeds and titles, wills and beneficiary designations.

The last item is the one people skip. A restored name on a driver licence and a married name on a life-insurance beneficiary designation is exactly the kind of mismatch that creates work for someone later.

Does Restoring Your Name Change Anything Else in the Divorce?

No. Name restoration is cosmetic in the legal sense and has no effect on the substantive rulings:

• Property is still divided under Fla. Stat. § 61.075, which begins from the premise in § 61.075(1) that the distribution should be equal absent a justification for an unequal distribution.
• Alimony is still decided under Fla. Stat. § 61.08.
• Child support is still calculated under the guidelines in Fla. Stat. § 61.30.
• The parenting plan and time-sharing schedule are still governed by Fla. Stat. § 61.13.

Nor does it affect your children. Fla. Stat. § 61.052(4) provides that no judgment of dissolution of marriage renders the child of the marriage a child born out of wedlock, and changing a minor’s name is a separate proceeding — one in which, where only one parent petitions, Fla. Stat. § 68.07(8) requires process to be served on the other parent and proof of service filed in the cause.

What Is the Earliest the Judgment Can Be Entered?

The same timeline as the divorce. Fla. Stat. § 61.021 requires that one of the parties reside 6 months in the state before the petition is filed, and Fla. Stat. § 61.19 provides that no final judgment of dissolution of marriage may be entered until at least 20 days have elapsed from the date of filing the original petition, though the court may enter judgment earlier on a showing that injustice would result from the delay. Restoration of a name does not accelerate a dissolution, and nothing about it will get you a judgment sooner.

Can a Husband Restore a Former Name?

Yes. Florida’s name statutes are not gendered. Section 68.07(1) speaks of “any person residing in this state,” and § 68.07(7) expressly contemplates a husband and wife joining in one petition for change of name. A spouse of either sex who took the other’s surname on marriage may ask, in the dissolution, to have his or her former name restored.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources & Related Reading

• Fla. Stat. § 68.07, Change of name — official text (Online Sunshine)
• Fla. Stat. § 61.052, Dissolution of marriage — official text
• Fla. Stat. § 322.19, Change of address, name, or citizenship status — official text
• Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms — flcourts.gov
• Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5) — ssa.gov
• How to File for Divorce in Florida
• Contested vs. Uncontested Divorce in Florida
• Florida Divorce FAQ
• Fla. Stat. § 61.075 — Equitable Distribution in Florida
• Common Law Marriage in Florida (§ 741.211)
• Florida Family Law Glossary

The information on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading or sharing this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with Pazos Law Group. Florida law and the application of statutes change over time; please consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation.