SA Name Change - Legally Make Ex Wife Stop Using My Surname?

[0424stuart]

Hi. Can I legally force my ex wife of 12 years (divorce for 10 years) stop using my surname, as she is giving my family a bad name in my town?
We have kids together but they are both over 20 so its not for that reason, as she always states. She refuses to make the name change even though I have asked. Please help

 

[AllForHer]

No, you have no legal power whatsoever to force your ex-wife to change her surname.

 

[0424stuart]

Thats not what i read, i believe i can apply to make it part of the divorce decree, even if i have to relodge it.
I am only looking for answers from an actual legal practitioner.
thanks

 

[AllForHer]

In Australia, you don't get a say about what goes into the divorce decree. You especially don't get to change a divorce decree 12 years after it was made. I understand this isn't what you want to hear, but an 'actual legal practitioner', as you say, reads from the same Australian laws that we 'pretend legal practitioners' do. If you want to spend $330 hearing it in official legal advice, by all means, go for it.

Just for clarity, having orders passed in 'divorce decrees' is an American practice, not an Australian one.

 

[AllForHer]

Again, sorry it's not what you want to hear, but good luck finding a legal practitioner who will tell you the law is something it's not!