Use of a Name after Dissolution of Marriage
Please carefully complete the “Unilateral Statement for the Use of a Name in a Marriage” using a typewriter or print letters. Sign the statement using your current legal name (!) before a notary public, who must certify your signature. If you come to the German foreign mission responsible for your district in person, your signature can be certified by a consular officer for a fee of €20.00, payable in US dollars based on the current exchange rate.
Please do not fill out the forms using capital letters only, in some cases this could result in different spellings.
Submit the statement, along with the following documents, to the German foreign mission responsible for your district:
- certified copy of your passport
- certified copy of your birth certificate
- certified copy of your marriage certificate (the Registry Office I in Berlin requires a marriage certificate issued by the county clerk)
- certified copy of the death certificate of your previous spouse, if applicable, or your final divorce decree (if the divorce was not executed in Germany, it also needs to be recognized by the proper judicial administration in Germany)
Your German foreign mission will forward the statement and documents to the registrar in Germany, who will confirm the use of the new name and, if ordered, will issue a certificate.
