follow up to changing last name: How does one do it?

[kristine_elen]

I assume you go to court, but do you know which one? (state? city? county?) Thanks!

[Zansu]

Are you trying to change from maiden to married? Or from married to something else?

The procedure differs based on whether your name change is related to an order of the court (which includes marriage and divorce) or is being done at your personal request.

[aliceinwonderland]

Well, I am in the process of doing this too (just adding my DH's last name on), and I called city hall here o=in Boston, and Iw as told I needed to call our County's Probate Court...I can tell this porces with be a real PITA...I just want to take care of this before I fill out my pre-registration papers at the hospital where I'll be giving birth

[dogmom]

My DH changed his name in Massachusetts. He had to go to the county probate court, which will be Middlesex (in Cambridge I think) or Suffolk depending on where you live in Boston. I know he paid a lawyer to file the paperwork for him, but he is particularly paperwork challenged. You might want to call up a lawyer and ask what the fee will be. I've always found that strolling into the Clerk's office in the Court has usually gotten me all the information I wanted. I guess the question is do you want to change your name legally or just socially? Oh, and make sure you keep a copy of that paperwork. My husband hand an "issue" with getting to Jamaica once for vacation because his birth certificate didn't match his ID. He didn't make it onto the plane.

Jeanne
Mom to Harvey
1/16/03

[jd11365]

This is what I did...
Went to the federal building with my marriage certificate to get my SS # changed.

Once that was changed, I took my new SS # to the DMV to get my driver's license changed and then to the bank to get that stuff changed.

Things to consider...
Passport...good thing I thought of it before I left for Europe or I would have been out of luck. You mail in your passport and copy of marriage certificate and they mail your passport back with an amendment to the back page.

When you make a flight reservation, make sure the reservation matches whatever you change your DL to.

Everything else I did as it came... Once you have a SS change and DL change, you should be good to go anywhere. Some places have me sent a copy of my marriage certificate still, but for the most part I'm official...

Jamie :-)





Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[JustMare]

In NY all I had to do was indicate I wanted my DH's name when filling out our marriage license. In the eye's of the state, as of our wedding date I became Mrs. DH. By the time we returned from our honeymoon we had our marriage license which I showed as proof to SS and DMV.

I think it's terribly unfair that Boston makes you go to court and pay an attorney for such a simple procedure.

I hope there's an easier way for you :)

[Zansu]

Changing your name due to marriage is a different procedure from changing your name "just because."

When you marry (or divorce), you are issued a court document that permits you to change your name.

If you want to change your name in the absence of a legal act (marriage or divorce), you have to go to court to have the name change issued as a legal decree, which involves paperwork and public notice (you have to publish your name change announcement in a newspaper).

Changing your name due to marriage and divorce is free in most, if not all, states in the US. Changing your name for other reasons will cost you court filing fees and newspaper publication charges, as well as attorney's fees (if you choose to use an attorney).

HTH

[aliceinwonderland]

Well, it is partly my fault, because they gave me the chance to change my name when I first got married, and I didn't do it. SO now I have to go to court. Oh well.

[McQ]

In Virginia I went to the local SSA office to apply for a new card. Then with that got my DL changed. From there it was smooth sailing. I did it right away but don't remember if there was a time limit.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[miki]

My parents did this for me when I was very young in NY for reasons too convoluted to explain briefly. They did have a lawyer do it but it's pretty simple so you don't need one. (I actually am a lawyer so when I say it's simple, really it is.) They had to have a little ad published in the local newspaper that said from now on I would be known by my new name. I forget whether it was once or twice it was published. After it was published, the lawyer took a copy of the ad and a one page document (that said it was published and now I should be known by my new name) and filed both at the local state court.

You have to check to see what your state's requirements are. To make it official, you have to fulfill those requirements in addition to having your name changed on all your other stuff. At any big bookstore like Borders or B&N, there are books with legal forms for you to see what these kinds of boilerplate documents should say. There is also inexpensive software you can get that has simple legal forms you can print after filling in the blanks. My husband got some bundled with the TaxCut software earlier this year. You can check with your local court to see how to file and what kind of filing fee there will be. It's more time and effort than hiring a lawyer to do it but it's certainly not something that needs a lawyer's expertise.