When a couple gets married, it is common practice for one spouse to take their new spouse’s last name as their own. Traditionally, it was the wife who took her husband’s family name, however, over the past few decades, other options have included the husband taking his wife’s last name as his own or one of the spouse’s hyphenating their maiden name with their spouse’s name. Regardless of which spouse changed their name legally when they wed, the good news is that there is no law that bars them from changing back to their maiden name should the couple divorce.

Changing Back to Your Maiden Name

Once a resolution has been reached on any legal issues the couple may have, the court will issue a divorce decree. Included in this decree is the choice of the spouse who took on the other spouse’s last name to change back to their maiden name without the need to take any other legal steps. The court will include a statement in the divorce decree document that the spouse chooses to now have their name as their legal name once again.

In some cases, however, when the decree is being issued and the spouse has the choice to legally revert back to their maiden name, they may decide not to. They may decide to continue to legally use their married name. There are a number of reasons why a spouse may make this decision, including:

When a divorced couple shares a minor child, their divorce decree will unlikely remain in place until that child turns 18, especially if the child was young when the parents divorced. The reality is that circumstances related to their child and their finances will likely change over time and these changes can affect their original parenting plan, as well as the original child support obligations put in place by the court at the time the divorce was granted. In these situations, one or both parents may decide that they need to return to court in order to have the court’s order modified with necessary changes.

Child Custody/Parenting Plan Modifications

There are situations that may give rise to one or both parents’ desire to change the existing child custody plan with regard to their minor children. For example, as children grow older, parents may want to modify the schedule to meet the needs of the children’s activities. Once a court approves the parenting plan reached by agreement of the parties, or issues a parenting plan when parents cannot agree, it will remain in effect and cannot be modified unless there has been some kind of substantial change that merits a modification. Some of the common reasons why a modification request would be accepted by the court include:

• The custodial parent has relocated or wishes to relocate

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Businesses sometimes run into financial trouble because they are not bringing in enough income to support the expenditures. When a business has insurmountable debt and cannot find another way to raise capital or increase income, it may be best to file for bankruptcy. There are several different types of bankruptcies, and depending on how the business is organized, the business may have more than one option to choose from.

Chapter 11

Businesses can file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy if they wish to reorganize their debt and set a payment plan to repay all their creditors. This can be a good plan if the business expects to raise its revenue in the future and selling its current assets in another form of bankruptcy will result in bigger losses. After the initial filing, the business remains under the control of the owners. However, a trustee may be appointed if there is an allegation of management or fraud.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy presents some advantages to the business in that it can void existing contracts, including contracts with employees and suppliers. However, the business is also closely monitored during the bankruptcy process, and cannot make any moves, like selling off major assets, without court approval.