Passport advice please.

[Her0utdoors]

I'm at the beginning of getting divorced and it suddenly occurred to me that my passport is in my unmarried name.
My dc have my married name. My passport has also expired.
Should I get a wriggle on and reapply for my passport before the divorce progresses?

Are you planning on keeping your married name after divorce? If not, just keep your ID in your maiden name.

You'll need consent to travel abroad with you DC after divorce (so will exH). That will make it clear that you are their mother and that you have the right to take them abroad, so the name on your passport won't matter

Thanks Doormat, it's such a steep learning curve.
I'm pretty sure I will keep using the married surname day to day, although I do use my previous surname professionally so it may well creep in.

I could have asked this exact question. I am not sure the comments about needing permission is true. Last time we came through passport control I had one child, my husband the other, at different desks. The child with me (age8) was quizzed about who I was, child with ''d''h (age 9) was not quizzed. I am sure it is because my surname was different. I think I am going to change mine. It might also help bring things out into the open- long story (''d''h has apparently had 2 meetings with a divorce lawyer but has never mentioned anything at all to me)

I have a different surname from my daughter and I just bring her birth certificate when we travel. Far better than whatever hassle is probably involved with getting your name changed in your passport.

Separately, my mother kept my father's name as her legal name even after they divorced because she already had developed a professional reputation with it. I think you should decide all of this based on what is most convenient for you going forward.

I will mostly likely keep my married surname for the sake of convenience, I'm not overly attached to either and my birth certificate is in a different name again.
I don't think changing the passport will be an issue as I just present my marriage certificate when I apply to renew my expired one. I was going to do check and send at the post office today, but dc have scuppered that with a night of chundering and Mr "I'm having the children 50:50 when I move out" has scuttled off to his office without a peep.
Beeeeep, it sounds like you have interesting times ahead!

I renewed in my married name, I'm not bothering to change it, too much hassle unless I remarry at some point

Can anybody clarify what the passport name situation is please. I have a different surname to my child. Her middle name is my surname. Will I need to take her birth certificate if I want to travel abroad?
We are separated now so any foreign travel was always as a family before. Do I need to prove she's my child?

The legal situation is that you need the other parent to give written permission to travel abroad. You almost never get checked, though. In fact, in years of travel with my DC who don't share my name, I've only once been asked what the relationship is and never asked to provide proof.

You still really should have it with you, though.