maiden name

Question: I have a question on behalf of my brother-he has been divorced from his first wife for about 5 years and is remarried. She never went back to using her maiden name. She remarried did not take her husband's last name. They divorced and she then found out she was pregnant by her 2nd husband. He wants nothing to do with the baby saying that it is not his. Here is the kicker- when the baby was born she put her 2nd husband's name on the birth certificate but gave the child the last name of my brother-her 1st husband whose name she still goes by. We live in a very small town so you can guess the talk that will be going on for years to come over whether this is my brother's child because of the last name. My question is: can something be done about this? This is a woman you would probably take out credit because she has his last name and knows all his info because they were married before. We're afraid that my brother could be vulnerable. Please let me know if you have ever heard of anyone doing something like this.

Ame Gardner

Answer: A person can not be required to change their name after divorce. While it is very odd that she named another child with this last name, I am unaware of any legal proceeding to prevent or change this.

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