How to legally change your name

[starchild]

Okay I'm attempting to do this myself and I'm having a brain freeze - I wish to keep my maiden name and add on my married name without hyphenation. On the SSA form there are 3 boxes for the name - first, full middle name, and last.

Do I enter my maiden name in the middle name box after my middle name?

Do I enter my maiden name in the last name box before my married name?

Or does it not matter which box I place it in?

Thought I'd ask you guys since you're more pleasant than the SSA :o)

[foxytv]

Originally Posted by starchild

Okay I'm attempting to do this myself and I'm having a brain freeze - I wish to keep my maiden name and add on my married name without hyphenation. On the SSA form there are 3 boxes for the name - first, full middle name, and last.

Do I enter my maiden name in the middle name box after my middle name?

Do I enter my maiden name in the last name box before my married name?

Or does it not matter which box I place it in?

Thought I'd ask you guys since you're more pleasant than the SSA :o)

If your married name will be Jane (first name) Sue (middle name) Smith Doe (last name) then that's how you put it on the form.

But ... if you want it to be Jane (first name) Sue Smith (middle name) Doe (last name) then you need both your original middle and last name on the same line.

Basically, if have to decide if your last name will be Smith Doe, as opposed to moving your maiden name to your middle name. Does that make sense? Wow. Confusing for me to write much less read. hehe

[coreyphil]

Yep - I think Tami's right - you just enter your Maiden name followed by your Married name in the "Last name" box without the hyphenation. I asked my girlfriend who did the same thing, and that's what she did ....

It may be a little late - or not necessary - but here are a couple of checklists that I downloaded from somewhere - there's a change your name one and a merge your money one ... I haven't really looked over them much yet, but I need to since the big day is getting close!

[AnnR]

Originally Posted by starchild

Okay I'm attempting to do this myself and I'm having a brain freeze - I wish to keep my maiden name and add on my married name without hyphenation. On the SSA form there are 3 boxes for the name - first, full middle name, and last.

Do I enter my maiden name in the middle name box after my middle name?

Do I enter my maiden name in the last name box before my married name?

Or does it not matter which box I place it in?

Thought I'd ask you guys since you're more pleasant than the SSA :o)

Originally Posted by foxytv

If your married name will be Jane (first name) Sue (middle name) Smith Doe (last name) then that's how you put it on the form.

But ... if you want it to be Jane (first name) Sue Smith (middle name) Doe (last name) then you need both your original middle and last name on the same line.

Basically, if have to decide if your last name will be Smith Doe, as opposed to moving your maiden name to your middle name. Does that make sense? Wow. Confusing for me to write much less read. hehe

I agree with Tami! And that's exactly what I did ... I chose to move my maiden name to a 2nd middle name. I wanted my last name to ONLY be Paul's last name, no hyphenation or otherwise.

Using Tami's example, I did ...

First Name: Jane
Middle Name: Sue Smith
Last Name: Doe

But if you want 2 last names, I'd put them both in the last name field, just dont' put in the hyphenation.

[starchild]

Thanks!!!! You guys kick ass!! Coreyphil thanks for the checklists too, those are great!

[coreyphil]

Originally Posted by starchild

Thanks!!!! You guys kick ass!! Coreyphil thanks for the checklists too, those are great!

Absolutely! I love the fact that you can get pretty much any question answered here!

[starchild]

Me too!!!!

[KellyMN]

Just incase there's another odd duck like me out there, I wanted to combine my husbands last name and my last name, so I thought I'd share the story. I've never had any desire, every since I was a young child, to take my husbands last name; so I thought this was a good step toward combining our lives and one day a family, while staying true to my beliefs and morals. Gleason + Bonde = Gleonde (after many brainstorming and opinion sessions with friends and family). Should be easy right? I did a ton of research on the subject, and no, I'm not the only crazy woman (or man) that has done this, but it wasn't as easy as I had hoped. I live in Minnesota and some counties in Minnesota won't allow this, but I found out some will. So, for anyone that's interested, make sure you double check with your state and county offices before you go get your marriage certificate. And... who knows if they would have allowed this in Mexico (we did religious ceremony in Mexico, Legal stuff here). Don't get discouraged, remember, it's really possible. Best of luck, Mrs. Gleonde :)

[NYJen]

Originally Posted by KellyMN

Just incase there's another odd duck like me out there, I wanted to combine my husbands last name and my last name, so I thought I'd share the story. I've never had any desire, every since I was a young child, to take my husbands last name; so I thought this was a good step toward combining our lives and one day a family, while staying true to my beliefs and morals. Gleason + Bonde = Gleonde (after many brainstorming and opinion sessions with friends and family). Should be easy right? I did a ton of research on the subject, and no, I'm not the only crazy woman (or man) that has done this, but it wasn't as easy as I had hoped. I live in Minnesota and some counties in Minnesota won't allow this, but I found out some will. So, for anyone that's interested, make sure you double check with your state and county offices before you go get your marriage certificate. And... who knows if they would have allowed this in Mexico (we did religious ceremony in Mexico, Legal stuff here). Don't get discouraged, remember, it's really possible. Best of luck, Mrs. Gleonde :)

I love this idea, and your new last name!!

[CaliaA07]

Ok I'm going through the name change. I printed out the SSA form. And it says it likes the documents to be US issued. Do I need to like register our marriage in the US or something?? I didn't know I had to go down to the SS office. That sucks too!