name change

jeymarley

for those of you who got married in a state that you didnt live in how did u go about changing your name?

 

my gf and i live in Georgia but plan to marry in DC before our little one gets here in Oct and she wants to change her last name when we get married. i know the marriage will allow her to change it with social security but how would we go about getting it changed on her license?

 another crazy thing to add she was displaced here after Katrina but still has a valid Louisiana license and we have been hesitant to get her a GA license because we weren't sure if it would be easier to get a new GA or renew the LA one after the name change

Kershnic

We got legally married in MA and do not live there.  Our name change was granted on our marriage certificate.  I believe that it depends upon how the name change laws work in the jurisdiction where you get married.  With the MA marriage certificate we were able to get our social security cards and passports updated, which are entirely federal issues and do not depend on which state you reside in. 

NJ is a fairly gay-friendly state (though no marriage), but I had no issue going from an out-of-state license in my maiden name to an in-state license in my married name using my marriage certificate issued by a third state.  No one at the DMV even batted an eye at the whole thing.

I don't know but I believe that GA would have a really difficult time not giving you an updated driver's license when you have an updated social security card. 

nevr2amazin

C and I changed our names prior to DC granting our marriage legally valid when we 'wed' there. (Can you tell I hold a grudge?)

We just did it through the courthouse. It cost us about $120 or so each and once the court granted it we went down to social security and DMV and had everything changed. The only thing that takes time is that it has to be run in a newspaper...formalities (i.e. another way to make money).

bluedaisyus

I changed mine through the court. the laws are different everywhere, but basically here I had to go file the petition and pay the fee, and they scheduled my court date. then I had to file a notice in the paper of my intent to change my name (it wasn't even in the regular paper, it was a special law paper) that had to run for at least 30 days, but I literally walked out of the courtroom and a few blocks down the street to file the paperwork for the notice so I did all that on the same day in pretty much the same hour.

when I went to the court appearance there were I think two other people there, all changing their names or their kids' names. the judge called me up, I said I wanted to change my name, what I was changing it to and why, and boom it was done.

ctbride08

Ditto Kershnic - we were married in MA.  Changing passport and SS was no problem since that was federal.  I then had to change my name on my license in my state (CT, which at the time did not recognize SS marriage) and I had heard from friends that it could be very hit or miss depending upon the person you got.  Luckily, I had no issue and was in and out of there in 10 minutes.  But, a friend went to the same office a week later and was turned away. 

So, my advice would be to at least try it without going the court route a couple times because you might get lucky.

JoySeattle

I also changed my name prior to our (WA) expanded DP laws (equal to, but not marriage). I did it through a local court and it cost about $150 and took about 20 minutes. No need to run anything in a paper. Then I used that to update my license, SS and passport. I used to live in GA and I believe you can do it through the courts there, with the newspaper listing. Best of luck!

P.S. I think it's interesting that state marriage licenses (and taxes) for s-s couples are sufficient for federal name changes, when federal stuff is supposed to ignore us legally.

Kershnic

JoySeattle:

I also changed my name prior to our (WA) expanded DP laws (equal to, but not marriage). I did it through a local court and it cost about $150 and took about 20 minutes. No need to run anything in a paper. Then I used that to update my license, SS and passport. I used to live in GA and I believe you can do it through the courts there, with the newspaper listing. Best of luck!

P.S. I think it's interesting that state marriage licenses (and taxes) for s-s couples are sufficient for federal name changes, when federal stuff is supposed to ignore us legally.

They've created a loophole in that the marriage certificate serves two seperate legal purposes in many states: marriage and name change.  The federal government has decided to recognize the legality of the name change document but not the legality of the marriage document.  Bullsh*t?  Yes.  But as complicated as it is for our marital status to change as we cross state lines, it was even more complicated for our names to change as we cross state lines.  I firmly believe that as the number of legal same-sex marriages grow these logistical issues will become the catalyst for bringing down DOMA.

MelissaG79

I live in Kansas where nothing is legal. Since we can't get married and it won't be recognized when we come back we just went to the courts and said I wanted to change my last name. They asked why and I said because they are my real family. They said pay a couple hundred dollars and it's done. I have had her last name since last September.