(1) As a rule, the spouses are to determine a common family name (family name). The spouses use the family name they have determined as such. If the spouses do not determine a family name, they will continue using the names they used at the time of concluding the marriage also after conclusion of the marriage.
(2) The spouses may choose the birth name of a spouse or the name a spouse was using at the time of the declaration on the determination of the family name as their family name by declaration to the registry of births, deaths and marriages.
(3) As a rule, the declaration on the determination of the family name is to be made at conclusion of the marriage. If the declaration is made later, it must be publicly certified.
(4) A spouse whose name does not become the family name may, by declaration to the registry of births, deaths and marriages, prepend or append to the family name their birth name or the name they are using at the time of the declaration on the determination of the family name. This does not apply if the family name consists of more than one name. If the name of one spouse consists of more than one name, only one of these names may be prepended or appended. The declaration may be revoked vis-à-vis the registry of births, deaths and marriages; in this case, a new declaration under sentence 1 is not admissible. If the declaration is not made before a German registry of births, deaths and marriages at conclusion of marriage, the declaration and the revocation must be publicly certified.
(5) The widowed or divorced spouse retains the family name. They may, by declaration to the registry of births, deaths and marriages, reassume their birth name or the name they were using until the determination of the family name, or prepend or append to the family name their birth name or the name they were using at the time of the determination of the family name. Subsection (4) applies accordingly.
(6) Birth name means the name that is to be entered in the birth certificate of a spouse at the date of the declaration to the registry of births, deaths and marriages.