Is changing your last name after remarrying actually worth it?
Going through the process of a name change is a lot of work, and it is not worth doing unless you are genuinely motivated. Juggling the time and effort required against sharing a name with your children or adopting a new partner's name often leaves people regretting the administrative hassle.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1keeping the former spouse's last name to avoid administrative hassle
- 2retaining an ex's last name to share a surname with children
- 3both partners changing to a brand new shared name
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I remarried in my mid 30s and had planned on keeping my ex-husband’s name so I’d have the same last name as my son. My now husband really wanted me to take his last name so I did but looking back I’m never gonna be sure that the time and effort put into changing my name (to one no one can pronounce) was worth it.”source ↗
“Going through the process of a name change is a lot of work, and I would say it’s not worth it if you aren’t motivated to do so.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2Transferring physical custodial stock after custodian dies and name change