As part of a divorce judgment in New York, the parties will be given the opportunity to request to resume the use of their pre-marriage name. Traditionally, this gives the wife the right to use her maiden name after the divorce.

Having this provision included in the divorce judgment prevents the party wishing to resume use of a pre-marriage name from having to commence a separate name change action following the divorce. A certified copy of the divorce judgment will be sufficient to show to social security and any other agencies to verify that the name change has taken place.

A divorced person has the right to continue using their married name following the divorce, if their ex-spouse wants them to stop using it.  You DO NOT need your spouse's permission to continue using the married last name if you want to continue using it even after you are divorced.