There are still frequent enquiries by women who want to confirm whether they need to do a deed poll to revert to their maiden names after getting divorced. Therefore, although several articles have been written on the topic, I thought it necessary to do some further research and cement my own ideas on the matter.

While in the throes of marital bliss, newly-weds hardly take the time to carefully consider what the woman's choice of name should be. And they certainly don't want to consider how difficult it may be to change that name once the marriage has been dissolved.

A good starting point is to consider the common options which are available to the woman when she gets married:

Retain her name

Adopt her husband's name

Create a double-barrelled name using her maiden name and her husband's.

All these options are available because of practice or convention and there is no need to obtain a deed poll to assume the husband's name.

When the marriage has been dissolved, it is open to the woman to retain her husband's name if she had opted to assume it, but she is also entitled to revert to the use of her maiden name.

The latter should be easy to do; and common sense certainly dictates that if there was no need for a deed poll to assume the name in the first place, there should be no need to obtain one to stop using it. However, this is where the stream is divided and there is one school of thought which suggests that a deed poll is required while there is another which suggests that production of the Decree Absolute (final decree on divorce) and the Marriage Certificate should provide sufficient legal basis to allow a woman to revert to the use of her maiden name when the marriage ends in divorce.

To help you decide what the proper course should be, let us consider what a deed poll is. It is really a declaration that a person is abandoning the use of his or her former name in preference for a new name, by which he or she intends to be known for the future.

Divorce

Logically, the custom of assuming her husband's name after marriage allows a married woman to avoid the formalities associated with obtaining a deed poll while enjoying the benefit of obtaining one. Why then shouldn't there be a similar custom which allows the divorced woman to enjoy the benefit of reverting to the use of her maiden name without having to obtain a deed poll?

I have received many reports of instances in which divorced women are met with conflicting requirements within various arms of governments. Perhaps this would be an appropriate time for a uniform standard to be introduced to avoid confusion among our citizens; and I would favour a standard which does not require a deed poll.

Sherry-Ann McGregor is a partner and mediator with the firm Nunes, Scholefield, Deleon & Co. Send feedback and questions to lawsofeve@yahoo.com.