Genealogy Chat

When a couple divorce, I know some women go back to their maiden name. Can they legally marry again using their maiden name, or do they have to marry with their previous married name. Also what name would be entered on record?

Hi, Alan As you are new here is a great site for all info relating to bmd certs,

http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm

the answer to your question would depend on when the marriage took place, but in general both names should be entered on the cert

in recent times proof of divorce is required before you can get married for the second time and on recent indexes it will say eg, john smith spouse jones or wilson

the site i listed explains if you go to marriages and look at column 2 and 5 these relate to the same columns on the cert,



Roy

Edit sorry, i think it is births NOT marriages that say john smith mmn jones or wilson that indicate a previous marriage,

but it is worth searching under both names because my sister remarried and on the index her marriage entry is in both names

also when you say was it legal, you can call yourself but what ever name you chose their are no laws against that, but it is against the law to use a alias to defraud anyone


Roy

I remarried under my maiden name as that is what I was known by. The marriage record on the index is in that name only. (I did provide proof of my divorce but my previously married name is not on the index).

thanks for replies, Marie your reply is very interesting, and may have pointed me in right direction

There are also cases where the future wife has already changed her surname to that of her new spouse.

I have one such certificate where it says "name changed by deed poll" in brackets after her new surname. There is no mention of her previous married name. Her maiden name can be deduced from her father's name on the certificate, but that may not always be the case.