Question about changing last name

[Ilya R. 0]

So my wife is coming prolly in late oct/nov and we want to change her last name to mine. Would that be a difficult and long process? And what steps I should take?

[payxibka 10,047]

I will assume she did not change her name effective upon marriage... If so, name changes are governed by state law.... Check local listings for process in your county of residence.

[Ilya R. 0]

Okay, thanks!

[payxibka 10,047]

In my county it is fill out the appropriate form and submit to the Civil Court

After you have completed the forms, bring or mail the completed, notarized application to:

Washington County Court Administration

Civil Division

14949 - 62nd Street North

PO Box 3802

Stillwater, MN 55082

along with a filing fee of $250.

[Ilya R. 0]

In my county it is fill out the appropriate form and submit to the Civil Court

After you have completed the forms, bring or mail the completed, notarized application to:

Washington County Court Administration

Civil Division

14949 - 62nd Street North

PO Box 3802

Stillwater, MN 55082

along with a filing fee of $250.

damn fees

[Chuckles 0]

Maybe I don't understand, but all we did was bring a marriage certificate to the SSN office.

[akdiver 3]

So my wife is coming prolly in late oct/nov and we want to change her last name to mine. Would that be a difficult and long process? And what steps I should take?

You're already married - and I am guessing that you got married overseas. She can change her last name overseas before she comes. All of your paperwork is already local, so it's just a matter of going to whomever the local authority is, changing registrations, etc. and then getting a passport issued in the new name. However, if she already has her visa, while you can still use it, dealing with it and the potential hassles is probably not worth it.

That leaves changing it once she gets here. Taking your overseas marriage paperwork in and translating it and so forth is a hassle, but you're going to have to do it at some point ANYWAY in the process of USCIS stuff. So, get it translated and apostilled and all notarized and whatever else - preferably wherever she is now, before she comes. Otherwise, you'll have to deal with a consulate here, which can be even more of a hassle and more expensive.

I dunno about foreign marriage paperwork - but most (but not all) marriage forms in the U.S. have a provision for changing name. Agencies are used to this. If your foreign paperwork does not include a name change as part of the document, you'll probably have to go to a local court and go through the name change procedure that way. Once you've done that, then you go to whatever agencies and change the name on documents, etc.

Alternatively, she can just wait until she applies for citizenship. On the N400 form, there is an option for changing name, and she can change her name as part of THAT process.

On a related note, there is nothing illegal about using any name you want any time you want - as long as it is not being used to commit a fraud or related deception. There is nothing to keep her from using a married name for bills, leases, or other kinds of things, even if she does not have a document indicating her married name. However, whether or not some agency or entity will accept it is a different story and your mileage may vary. For example - suppose you want to buy a house. You can both fill out the loan paperwork as "Joe and Svetlana Jones", and there is nothing illegal about this - even if she uses her SSN which is tagged with "Svetlana Ivanova" or whatever. However, at some point, the bank is going to ask for an ID. If she doesn't have a Svetlana Jones ID, they may be willing to accept "she changed her name to Jones when we got married" but they may also insist on seeing an ID to that effect. It just depends on how much of a ####### they want to be. Same applies for a checking account, etc.

In general, I think it is a very bad idea for people to change their name just because they get married. I dunno why on earth anyone would want to put up with the resulting headaches...but some just are a glutton for punishment I guess (:

Check local listings for process in your county of residence.

FWIW, not everyone lives in a place with counties. Specifically, Alaska and Louisiana do not have counties. I dunno about other states. Also, in some places, you may have to go to city, rather than county government - and some cities are not in a county, even if the state has counties (such as Virginia).

Maybe I don't understand, but all we did was bring a marriage certificate to the SSN office.

That works great if it is an American marriage certificate. For the OP, it SOUNDS like he was married abroad, which would complicate things somewhat. Also, in some states, such as Louisiana (as per my understanding), you can't change your name simply as a result of getting married, you still have to go to court and go through the name change procedure. Edited September 16, 2008 by akdiver

[payxibka 10,047]

Check local listings for process in your county place of residence.

FWIW, not everyone lives in a place with counties. Specifically, Alaska and Louisiana do not have counties. I dunno about other states. Also, in some places, you may have to go to city, rather than county government - and some cities are not in a county, even if the state has counties (such as Virginia).

FWIW, it is worth nothing

[Ilya R. 0]

We got married in NJ

[akdiver 3]

We got married in NJ

So, she got married and then left??

Well, that simplifies it for you then I guess. If your marriage license application and resulting certificate allowed you tp specify the last name she wanted after marriage, then that's all you need. Take it around and show it to any agency you want to change her name - they have to accept it. If it DOESN'T show a new name, then they don't HAVE to accept it, but they MAY accept it. Otherwise, she willl have to go through your state's change of name procedure.

[Ilya R. 0]

We got married in NJ

So, she got married and then left??

Well, that simplifies it for you then I guess. If your marriage license application and resulting certificate allowed you tp specify the last name she wanted after marriage, then that's all you need. Take it around and show it to any agency you want to change her name - they have to accept it. If it DOESN'T show a new name, then they don't HAVE to accept it, but they MAY accept it. Otherwise, she willl have to go through your state's change of name procedure.

So I should contact my township, or township where we got married?

[akdiver 3]

So I should contact my township, or township where we got married?

Marriage is over, so the other township has nothing to do with you. Go to the one in which you live - that is - assuming you have a certified copy of your marriage certificate already. If you don't have one of those, you'll probably need to contact the vital statistics agency where you got married - depending on how your state does it. Some do recording at the local level, at least one does it at the state level.

[Ilya R. 0]

So I should contact my township, or township where we got married?

Marriage is over, so the other township has nothing to do with you. Go to the one in which you live - that is - assuming you have a certified copy of your marriage certificate already. If you don't have one of those, you'll probably need to contact the vital statistics agency where you got married - depending on how your state does it. Some do recording at the local level, at least one does it at the state level.

Knowing NJ, its all going to be ### backwards!

But thanks for your help

[slim 1,530]

No counties in Alaska? Is there anything similar?

Louisiana does have counties, they're just called something different based on the old Catholic heritage there.

Does Virginia have more than one city without a county?

[akdiver 3]

No counties in Alaska? Is there anything similar?

Alaska has boroughs - some of which are bigger than states. It also has one Municipality. Note - as far as I know, no borough as a sheriff or police department. Some cities have police departments. Some localities are not in any borough at all and are, in effect, governed directly by the state itself. Also note that we do not have anything like a "county recorder" - all recording is handled directly by the state. We have a State Recorder's Office.

Louisiana does have counties

They have parishes (:

Does Virginia have more than one city without a county?

The Commonwealth of Virginia is a little different than the rest of the states, in that they have independent cities. These cities have the same authority as counties. They all have their own court system, and with a few exceptions, their own record depositories (record rooms). There are 41 independent cities in Virginia, and 95 counties. Edited September 18, 2008 by akdiver