How to Change Your Last Name After Marriage

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Congratulations on your marriage! Now comes the pesky times of changing your name. You must note that you will not be able to change your name until after you are married. So you cannot shortcut the process and try to apply beforehand. Remember those marriage certificates that you were given? Well now you are going to need them so I hope you kept them in a safe place. Make sure you are holding the original certified marriage certificates and not copies. Also to save yourself a lot of time, make sure that the certificates are long-form marriage certificates because you are going to need them when you go to the social security office.

Now lets go to the good ol' Social Security Office! Here you are going to update your Social Security information with a Social Security form SS-5. This is basically just a form to update your social security card. You will also need documents that provide proper I.D. and they must be originals. Bring your drivers license, birth certificate, and social security card if you can along with your marriage certificate. You must realize that it is important to do this because if your social security information is not updated the IRS will reject your tax return and you will lose out on your money. Next we go to the DMV, which is even more fun! As always, make sure to get there early to avoid the long waits, but you already knew that. At the DMV you will be applying for a new license and to do that you must bring your marriage certificate to prove your new name and also your address (if it has changed).

After about 2-3 weeks depending upon your state, you should have your SS and DMV information all set to go which will allow you to change all the rest of your personal matters. Changing is not a difficult thing to do but it is a process and you must be persistent with it. Make sure to check with the following: Employers, cell phone company, credit card companies, banks, schools, gym memberships, and your passport. You will need to change everything that has your name on it financially. Good Luck!