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Author: Ilona Melnychuk, attorneyKey points in brief
A surname after a divorce is not just a formality, but part of your identity and at the same time a quite practical question on which quite a few documents depend. Someone strives to return their pre-marriage surname as quickly as possible and symbolically close the stage they have gone through, while for someone it is more convenient to keep the surname under which they are known at work and by shared children. Let us examine what exactly the law allows, how and when to formalize your decision, and how much it will cost as of 2026.
Yes, you have every right to continue bearing the surname you took in the marriage, and no one can force you to change it. The dissolution of a marriage in itself does not return the pre-marriage surname automatically: if you declare nothing, you remain with the surname you had on the day of the divorce. The law gives exactly two lawful options for your choice: to keep the surname acquired in the marriage or to restore the pre-marriage one. Both options are equivalent, so you should be guided solely by your own convenience. For someone it is important to bear the same surname as the children, or to preserve recognizability in their profession and documents, while someone, on the contrary, wants to return their pre-marriage name sooner. There is no answer that is correct for everyone here, and that is normal.
Article 113 of the Family Code establishes this right in one clear sentence: “A person who has changed their surname in connection with the registration of a marriage has the right after the dissolution of the marriage to continue to be named by this surname or to restore their pre-marriage surname.” The rule concerns the spouse who at the marriage took the other’s surname or added it to their own. If in the marriage you did not change your surname and kept your own, then nothing changes for you and the very question does not arise. The right under Article 113 is purely personal and unconditional: it does not depend on the reasons for the divorce, on who was the initiator, or on the presence of shared children. By a pre-marriage surname is meant the one you had directly before the registration of this particular marriage: if the marriage was a repeat one, this is the surname from the previous period, and not necessarily the one you were born with. Whether to use the right or not, only you decide, and the law does not require any explanations.
No, the consent of the former husband or wife is needed neither to keep the surname nor to return the pre-marriage one. This is your personal decision, and you are not obliged to coordinate or justify it with anyone. A former husband cannot forbid you to continue bearing “his” surname after the divorce, just as he cannot force you to give it up, even if he very much wants to. The registry office formalizes your decision on your own application, without any agreement with the other party and without their participation. This guarantee equally protects both former spouses: each is free in their choice regardless of the other’s position. Likewise, neither a court’s permission nor a separate appeal to the former husband or wife is needed: your application to the registry office is enough.
The simplest and cheapest way is to decide the fate of the surname right during the divorce, rather than putting it off for later. At the moment of the divorce, the pre-marriage surname can be restored effectively together with the dissolution of the marriage, without a separate lengthy procedure and without an additional duty for a change of name. But if you missed this moment, changed your mind later, or divorced through a court, you will have to go through a separate change-of-name procedure, which takes longer and requires its own package of documents. Therefore, already at the stage of preparing for the divorce, it is worth clearly deciding under which surname you want to live from then on. Changing the decision later comes out expensive, primarily because of the repeated exchange of all documents, so unnecessary hesitation here is disadvantageous. Below we will examine both routes separately: first how to formalize everything right during the divorce, and then how to act if the surname had to be returned already after it.
In a divorce through the registry office, it is enough to indicate the desired surname directly in the application for the dissolution of the marriage. This route is available to spouses without shared minor children by mutual consent (Article 106 of the Family Code). In the joint application, each spouse separately indicates which surname they will bear after the divorce, and the chosen surname is recorded in the act record and in the marriage dissolution certificate. There is no need to pay separately for the change of surname in this case: you pay only the state duty for the registration of the divorce itself, which is about UAH 8.50. That is precisely why resolving the surname question through the registry office is both the simplest and the cheapest. For more on this method, read the material on divorce through the registry office without a court, and about the document in which the new surname is reflected, in the article on the marriage dissolution certificate.
In a divorce through a court, it is worth declaring the desired surname in the statement of claim, and then checking whether your decision is reflected in the text of the court decision. At the same time, it is important to understand a nuance: a court decision on the dissolution of a marriage as a general rule is not separately registered at the registry office, and the marriage is considered terminated from the day this decision enters into legal force (Article 114 of the Family Code). Because of this, in practice, after a court divorce the pre-marriage surname is most often returned separately, through the change-of-name procedure at the registry office, which is discussed below. That is, a court decision on the divorce does not change the surname automatically by itself. If returning the pre-marriage surname is important for you, plan this in advance and be ready that after the court a separate visit to the registry office will be needed. What such a decision contains and when it enters into force we examined in detail in the article on the court decision on the dissolution of a marriage.
If the marriage has already been dissolved but the surname has remained the one acquired in the marriage, it is changed through a separate application for a change of name to the registry office branch at the place of residence. This is the same procedure by which any adult can change their surname, and a sufficient ground here is your own wish; there is no need to justify the reasons. The order of actions is usually as follows: gather the documents, file the application in person with the registry office, wait for the consideration, receive the certificate of the change of name, and then exchange the passport and other documents. The application is considered as a general rule within three months, and if there are valid reasons this period may be extended for up to another three months. For now, this service cannot be obtained fully online: the application is filed in person, and the ready certificate of the change of name is issued at the same registry office branch. We have gathered the full list of papers for each route in the material on documents for a divorce.
The basic package for a separate change of surname usually includes an application, a birth certificate, a marriage dissolution certificate or a court decision, a passport, a photo, and, if there are young children, also their birth certificates and a receipt for the payment of the duty. The application itself is filled out in the established form at the registry office branch, and the duty and administrative fees are paid by bank transfer using the provided details. The state duty for a change of name is small: as a general rule it is about UAH 5.10 for the first change (0.3 of the tax-free minimum) and about UAH 51 for a repeat one. The main costs fall not on the change of surname itself, but on the subsequent exchange of documents. Approximately in 2026, issuing an ID card costs about UAH 618 in the ordinary period and about UAH 988 in the urgent one, a foreign passport about UAH 1,147, a driver’s license about UAH 608. The exact amounts are worth clarifying before filing, since administrative fees are periodically revised, and the cost also depends on the chosen production period.
After receiving the certificate of the change of name, the main documents need to be updated within a month. First of all, this is the passport of a citizen of Ukraine in the form of an ID card, and also the foreign passport and driver’s license, if you have them: delay in exchanging the passport may result in administrative liability. In practice, it is convenient first to obtain the ID card, and then to change the rest of the documents and bank cards by the updated passport. The taxpayer record card registration number is updated to the new surname free of charge, as are the data in the Pension Fund, the bank, and the electronic health system. But documents on education, the employment record book, and title documents for property do not have to be changed: they remain valid with the old surname too. If needed, the link between the old and new surname is confirmed by the certificate of the change of name or a corresponding reference; this is sometimes useful, for example, when arranging an inheritance or in banking matters.
No, a change of your surname does not change the child’s surname automatically. The child keeps the surname that was recorded at their birth, and changing the child’s surname is a separate procedure with its own rules: the consent of both parents is needed, and in case of their disagreement the question is decided by the guardianship authority or a court. In addition, from the age of 14 the opinion of the child themselves is necessarily taken into account. That is, you can freely return your pre-marriage surname, but automatically “transferring” it to the child will not work. This topic goes beyond Article 113, so we examine it in detail separately in the material on changing a child’s surname after a divorce.
Yes, but this is no longer a right under Article 113, but the general change-of-name procedure. Article 113 concerns only the choice between the surname acquired in the marriage and the pre-marriage one. But if you want to take any other surname, you apply to the registry office with an application for a change of name, and a sufficient ground is your own wish. The order and the cost in this case are the same as for returning the pre-marriage surname.
If you resolve the question right during the divorce through the registry office, the new surname is recorded immediately, in the marriage dissolution certificate. But a separate change-of-name procedure takes as a general rule up to three months, and if there are valid reasons it may be extended for up to another three months. So if you want it faster, resolve the surname question simultaneously with the divorce.
As of 2026, you cannot return a surname fully remotely: the application for a change of name is filed in person at the registry office. The divorce service in the Diia app is at this time at the pilot stage and is not available to everyone. On which online options really work, read the material on dissolving a marriage online.
The rule is the same: you can keep the double surname you had in the marriage or restore your pre-marriage one. Article 113 covers any case where the surname was changed in connection with the registration of the marriage, including the addition of the other spouse’s surname to yours. The choice again depends only on you and does not require the consent of the former spouse.
A pre-marriage surname is the one a person had directly before the registration of a specific marriage. Most often this is indeed the maiden name, that is, the one that was before the first marriage. But if the marriage was not the first, the pre-marriage surname will be considered the one you bore before entering precisely this marriage, and it is precisely it that you can restore.
No, a change of surname does not in any way affect your rights and obligations, in particular the recovery of child support or the division of joint property. These are different planes: the surname concerns your name, while child support and property relations are resolved by their own rules regardless of which surname you bear. A change of surname also does not cancel already made court decisions regarding children or property.
The state duty itself is small: about UAH 5.10 for the first change of name. The main costs are the subsequent exchange of documents, approximately from UAH 600 for an ID card and more if you also update a foreign passport or driver’s license. But if you return the surname right during the divorce at the registry office, you do not pay separately for the change of surname at all, only the duty for the registration of the divorce, about UAH 8.50.
Yes, the right to change a surname is not limited by time frames. You can restore your pre-marriage surname a year, and ten years, after the divorce, by using the change-of-name procedure at the registry office. The main thing is to have a document confirming the dissolution of the marriage, for example a marriage dissolution certificate or a court decision.
Ilona MelnychukAttorney, Lexon law firmSpecializes in family, civil, and commercial cases. Over 15 years of practice: representing clients’ interests in courts and negotiations.Author: Ilona Melnychuk, attorney In Brief You can dissolve a marriage through the registry office (DRATS, the body for the state registration of civil status
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