Now married women in Maharashtra do not need to change their names or surnames after they get married – unless they choose too. More and more women are choosing not to.
It is now perfectly legal for a woman to retain her maiden name after marriage. The Bombay high court recently amended a crucial rule under the Family Courts Act to prevent a woman from being compelled to file any marriage-related proceedings only in her husband’s surname, thus offering relief to many seeking a divorce.
The radical rule says that “a wife who has not changed her name after marriage, by publishing in the official gazette, may continue to use her maiden name”. The law is clear now: a woman is not obliged to take her husband’s name after marriage. A wife may continue to use her maiden name if she has not changed it officially after marriage.
But his law has not specified abut the child adopting the mother's surname as a rule.
For changing the surname of the minor child, the permission or consent of its biological father (who is also the natural guardian) may have to be obtained.