• Divorce

Hello sir,

One of my friend got divorce from his wife recently in the month of June . Settlement is done. Now the problem is Ex wife still using his name next to her name in all the docs,and social medias as well. He requested her to change .but she is not ready to do this. He don't want her to keep his name anymore. So what is the legal action he can take her to remove his name . 
1) is that mandatory to change name if husband objects
2)after decree is that possible to appeal through court 
3) what actions he can take.
Asked 5 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu

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13 Answers

1. No it is not mandatory the name is her sole right and no body even husband can object .

2. He donot have any legal recourse. She cannot use his. Name as husband and show married status but she can keep her name and surname as she wish.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) it is not mandatory for ex wife to change name after divorce

2) he needs to obtain court orders restraining wife from using his name afterdivorce

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94520 Answers
7485 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

This is not necessary to change the name after the divorce keeping a name is an individual choice and if she is keeping that name he cannot force to change it ligally.

Vimlesh Prasad Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
6852 Answers
23 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

Hello,

Send her a legal notice.

And if she still uses the same then an injunction case has to be filed against her.

Regards

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18077 Answers
377 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. It is mandatory to change name if husband objects.

2. It can be done, but before that send a legal notice.

3. Your friend can publish a Public Notice in a local language paper, as well as in English newspaper informing the public about the couple having obtained decree of divorce.

Shashidhar S. Sastry
Advocate, Bangalore
5068 Answers
314 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Dear Sir,

My answers are as follows:

1) is that mandatory to change name if husband objects

Ans: Yes it is mandatory as per following Supreme Court judgment. Get issue a legal notice through me if she did not oblige your friend can file suit for compensation and permanent injunction.

2)after decree is that possible to appeal through court

Ans; Yes, appeal is provided for every decree passed by trial court.

2) what actions he can take.

Ans: Your friend can take actions as suggested above.

======================

Divorced woman can't use ex's name, rules HC

The Bombay high court concurred and in a rare order that might make divorced men smile, directed thedivorced woman to stop using her former husband's name and surname.

The HC further clarified: ``ex-wife cannot use the husband's name anywhere, including in her bank account''. The landmark judgment was passed by Justice Roshan Dalvi as she dismissed a petition filed by a woman challenging an interim order of the family court in Bandra.

R R Vachha, principal judge of the family court in Mumbai, had in September last year restrained the woman from using her ex-husband's name and surname as their marriage had ended four years ago. ``By using the ex-husband's name or surname, there is always a possibility of people being misled that she is still the wife, when in fact she is not,'' said Vachha. The HC upheld the family court order and said it need not be interfered with but should be given effect to ``for all purposes''.

The battle over names between the couple arose a year after the family court granted them divorce in February 2006 and the HC finalized it the same year. But the wife says she has moved Supreme Court where the matter is pending; she claimed she was still his wife.

The couple had begun their divorce fight in 1996 after staying together for a little over six months. When the woman filed for more mainatenance after the divorce, the husband — a 49-year-old police inspector — contended through his lawyers Ramesh and Sadhana Lalwani that his ex-wife continued to use his name though she was no longer his wife legally and sought that she be restrained from doing so.

The man alleged that she was ``mischievously posing as his wife, entering into altercations and caused embarrassing situations for him''. He produced a news report from a local paper in his native village in Maharashtra about one such act of hers and said in villages where people were known by their family names, such behaviour affected not only him but his entire family.

He also argued that since the woman was not a wife anymore, she was not entitled to tag on her ex-husband's name and surname to her own as it would be misleading. The wife argued that her ex was merely being ``malicious and trying to malign'' her.

Kishan Dutt Kalaskar
Advocate, Bangalore
6135 Answers
483 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

1. Yes without the permission of a person one can not use his name or surname unauthorizedly.

2. So the ex husband can now file a suit for mandatory injunction seeking order to stop wife from using the surname or name of her ex husband.

3 In the said suit the court can grant interim order of injunction before grant of decree in its final adjudication.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22779 Answers
484 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Yes there are remedies available.

Ramachandar Desu
Advocate, Bangalore
23 Answers

Not rated

1. The husband cannot insist or force her to change her name.

There is no legal infirmity in she using her name in any manner she may like to.

2. Yes.

3. Remaining silent on this would be a better choice.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84711 Answers
2172 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Dear Client,

A woman acquires her matrimonial surname by virtue of her marriage. When the marriage is dissolved, the man definitely has the right to take recourse to the law to restrain his former wife from using his name.

HE can file appeal.

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
22596 Answers
31 Consultations

4.4 on 5.0

Dear Sir,

Yes it is mandatory, Your friend can get issue a legal notice to her and file a case against her for not using his name further more.

Netravathi Kalaskar
Advocate, Bengaluru
4952 Answers
27 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

A woman acquires her matrimonial surname by virtue of her marriage. When the marriage is dissolved, the man definitely has the right to take recourse to the law to restrain his former wife from using his name.

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19299 Answers
32 Consultations

4.7 on 5.0

1) Your friend has done settlement and divorce so ask him to get divorce as early as possible. They can get Mutual Consent Divorce very fast as compared to other procedures.

Ganesh Kadam
Advocate, Pune
12910 Answers
253 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

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