Changing Your Maiden Name

One of the biggest decisions after the wedding was, "Are you changing your name?"

One of the biggest factors in changing my name was the convenience of it. No, not the convenience of actually changing my name but the convenience of being "Maiden Name-Married Name". As a hyphen name, I can easily prove my identity for any documents with my maiden name. I can also easily prove my identity for anything that had to do with my husband. Lazy much? Yessir.

So I began my journey of changing my name.

 Tip: Plan ahead for trips. It costs money to change your name on flight tickets... stupid I know since it's all online. Make sure you're not flying with a ticket that says "Jane Doe" when your identification says "Jane Doe-Blank". I didn't think about this ahead of time and had two flights already purchased so I had to travel with my passport (which I didn't update yet). Not a big deal but if I had updated my passport too, it would have cost me a couple hundred dollars to update the name on the airline ticket.
  1. Get marriage certificates
    You need an original CERTIFIED copy of your marriage license. Most places do not accept a photocopy of it. When ordering, I suggest getting a couple of certified copies just in case.
  2. Change your Social Security card.
    You can fill out the application online and mail it in. You need a certified copy of your marriage license for this so make sure you have backups.
  3. Notify your business about the name change
    You want to make sure that your work is aware of your name change so they can update their payroll for tax purposes.
  4. Go to the DMV
    1. Change your license at the DMV
      All I needed was my old license and my new social security card. They made me take a new picture which I wasn't prepared for... but oh well.
    2. Change your car title
      I didn't figure this one out until later but since you're at the DMV, change your car title if it's under your name. You can technically do it without your marriage license but it's more expensive without. When I went, it was $90 to correct your car title without and only $15 to correct it with your marriage certificate.
    3. Change your car registration
      I'm not sure if this automatically updates when you change the title but it definitely did not when you change your name on your license. Just double-check when you're at the DMV.
  5. Change your bank accounts, credit cards and debit cards
  6. Update your insurance information
    And let your doctor/dentist know of the update when you visit
  7. Update your passport
    Especially if you're traveling out of the country in the next year. If you are going to mail your change in, plan on waiting a couple of months before getting it back. If you need it in a hurry, you'll probably need physically go in and get it changed.
  8. Update the post office
  9. Update the electric and utility companies
  10. Update your voter registration
  11. Update your attorney (to update any legal documents)
  12. Update all the little things
    Oh the little things. Those are the things that will keep coming back to bite you in the arse. The last thing I ran into was my frequent flyer miles. If the name doesn't match your airline ticket, you may not get the frequent flyer miles for it! Some required me mailing letters to each airline with a letter and a copy of my marriage certificate (ok for a scanned copy here). It's been three weeks since I sent it out and only 2/3 have changed it so far. Others (like United) allowed me to email them and changed it pretty quickly.



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