Upon returning to the United States, he assumed the surname of "Edwards" and returned to New York to resume his law practice. He remarried Eliza Jumel, the wealthy socialite widow of Stephen Jumel, but she left him after four months due to his land speculations reducing her finances. Historians attribute his self-imposed exile and using a different surname in part to escape from his creditors, as he was deeply in debt. Burr died on September 14, 1836, the same day that his divorce from his wife was granted.