After my husband and I are divorced and I return to my former name, can I change the last name of my children as well?
Traditionally, courts ruled that a father had an automatic right to have his child keep his last name if he continued to actively perform his parental role. But this is no longer true. Now a child's name may be changed by court petition when it is in "the best interest of the child" to do so. When deciding to grant a name change, courts consider many factors:
- The length of time the current name has been used
- The need of the child to identify with a new family unit (if the change involves remarriage)
- The wishes of the child's parents and any person acting as a parent who has physical custody of the child
- The wishes of the child and the reason for those wishes (assuming a judge concludes the child is of sufficient age and maturity to express them)
- The interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parents or persons acting as parents who have physical custody of the child, stepparents, siblings, step siblings or any other person who may affect the child's best interests
- The child's adjustment to his or her home, school, and community

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1. Who else do I need to inform if I change my name?
2. What state law governs Name Changes in Illinois?
3. I just don't like my birth name and I want to change it. Can I choose any name I want?
4. Do I have to file forms in court to change my birth name?
5. How do I implement my name change?
6. I'm a woman who is planning to be married soon. Do I have to take my husband's name?
7. Can my husband and I both change our names to a hyphenated version of our two names or to a brand new name?
8. What if I do want to take my husband's name? How do I make the change?
9. I took my husband's name when I married, but now we're getting divorced and I'd like to return to my former name. How do I do that?
10. After my husband and I are divorced and I return to my former name, can I change the last name of my children as well?