AN ACT to allow a widow or widower to hyphenate pre‑marriage and married surnames.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 101‑8 reads as rewritten:

§ 101‑8.  Resumption of name by widow or widower.

A person at any time after the person is widowed may, upon application to the clerk of court of the county in which the person resides setting forth the person's intention to do so, resume the use of her maiden name or the name of a prior deceased husband or of a previously divorced husband in the case of a widow, or his premarriage surname in the case of a widower. change the person's name to his or her (i) pre‑marriage surname, (ii) pre‑marriage surname joined by a hyphen to the surname of the last spouse of the person, or (iii) the surname of a previously deceased or divorced spouse. The application shall set forth the full name of the last spouse of the applicant, shall include a copy of the spouse's death certificate, and shall be signed by the applicant in the applicant's full name. If the applicant seeks a name change to the surname of a previously divorced spouse who is still living, the applicant shall include an affidavit signed by the previously divorced spouse consenting to the applicant's name change. The clerks of court of the several counties of this State shall record and index such applications in the manner required by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.