I have been using my husband last name for over 10 years. So that name is in my credit report, social security, driver’s license and everything including my passport. In short, that name is me.

Now it’s not that I don’t love my husband anymore or anything like that. We are still going strong. It’s just that all of a sudden I want to use my maiden name so badly. May be I want to be more different than in the past. But that name doesn’t exist. Plus I understand that to change name you have to go to court and lots of expenses.

I wonder if anyone has gone through name changing experiences and would like to share and give advice. I would deeply appriciate it.

ps. I posted this on the Travel Lounge but I thought I might get more responses on this board. Thanks

When I got married, I didn't officially change my name just because I didn't want to go through the hassle. I use my married name socially however, to the IRS I still use my maiden name. On all of our accounts, I use both names with a hyphen. My driver's DL has both names also.

As far as travel, my passport still has my maiden so if I go international I use my maiden to book tickets. If it is domestic, I use both names since I am using my DL for ID.

Sorry, I don't know if this is much help. I have no idea how this would work in reverse!

~J

There is no need to go to court to change you name unless there are a lot of potential contractual isues involved. (Legally you're allowed to call your self anything you like -0 as along as its not for criminal purposes.) When its a matter of using a maiden or marital name that's entirely up to you. Just contact everyone and tell then about the change- you should have no problems (be especially careful with SS - so your salary records don;t get mesed up).

make sure when you travel, your reservations and passport have the same name. It happened to a friend who used her married name for the hotel reservations and her passport/ticket had her maiden name. When it came time to deliver her lost luggage to the hotel, they couldn't find her.

I'm still married to Husband #1, but I, too, could no longer not be me, so I changed back to my own name quite a few years ago. I did have an attorney do it, but afterwards I thought I could have done it myself. I think if I were you, I would go to the county court house and ask someone there what the procedure is. I remember that all the changes but one were extremely simple with no questions asked. The one that I never did accomplish was the name on the house we jointly own. The people at the court house insisted on a quit claim deed, and I never went through the hassle. I wish I could be more helpful, but it has been quite a long time, and I have forgotten the specifics. My own name gave me a sense of self that I never had when I used my husband's name. Good luck! Boots

Travel related......it would be a good idea to have the name on your drivers license = your passport = airline ticket/reservation.

I'm thinking, somewhere along this audit trail you'll have a validation of the SS# to your drivers license.

The process to convert from one to another (married back to maiden) may require legal intervention and the filing of the appropriate paperwork.

All the replies help me feel so much better. I feel that I'm not being weird. It makes me feel I'm not alone. Thanks so much.

Boots,

Do you have to carry the name change documents with you all the time?

nytraveler,

Can I just change name on everything without going to court? I understand President Clinton had to go to court to change his last name.

Boots I agree with you -she should go to her local court and they will be able to guide her on the name change. I do not believe she could or should just tell everyone - this is my new name and change everything. I think she would have severe problems somewhere down the road if she didn't go through the Courts. Of course an attorney could do it too - but the least expensive way to do it is on your own.

I've used a variety of names without doing anything official. I used my maiden name for several years after I got married, then when I had kids I started using my husband's but didn't officially change it. At some point I started hyphenating the two names on driver's license, checks, credit cards,etc. So that's what's on my passport. So I would think that you could start hyphenating your name on things and then just use whichever you want, in terms of what people call you. I think if you were to just switch from one to the other you would have more trouble.

Do be careful about social security though. My situation is really wierd in that when I got my first social security card I must have been in high school and at that time I was "using" my step father's name (which was never my legal name) - but that's what's on my social security card. When I applied to college I was told I had to use my legal name so just gave up the stepfather's name at that time. All my jobs, all my tax returns, etc since then have had my legal maiden name, or my hypenated name (my maiden name and my husband's name). Anyway, last year I get a letter from social security saying I have to officialy change it but when I went to do so I had to show ID with that name I used in high school - my stepfathers. Well I don't have any, it was never my legal name. So I had a really hard time changing it. To get my real name on my social secuity card I had to prove I was someone who had never legally existed. It was actually pretty funny. I might add that the IRS has been ok for all these years using my soc secuity number and whatever name I happen to be using at the time.

tiaw:
I did get a name-change document; perhaps I got it because I had an attorney do the change for me. I never carried it with me, but if you get one, it would be easy to make a copy and carry it. If you have your new (old) name on everything, I can't imagine that anyone would know what your previous name was. I don't think people who marry have to carry a name-change document.
I'm sure you will be proud to "be yourself" again.
Boots

isabel, I can't imagine having something like that happening to me. It's a big hassel. I assume you've got everything sorted out? Your complicated situation makes my problem seem simple.

My understanding is that you do not need anyone's permission to change your name to whatever you want. However, to avoid any problems you will need to change all of your documentation the same way at the same time. This includes not only your passport and drivers lic - but all your credit cards, your SS account, any property/stocks/bank accounts you own - and the major credit agencies. (What you cannot do is have things with all sorts of different names all over the place - this will not only be confusing - but can be construed as deceptive - in terms of obtaining credit etc.)

(The latter can be a challenge to deal with - my brother still has on his credit report a loan for a car bought before he was born - he and my father have the same first and last name but different middle names and initials - and has never been successful convincing them he could not have bought a car at age minus two - nor that there is no longer an outstanding loan on a car 42 years old - the original lender went out of business - and records can no longer be tracked).

nytraveler,

How can I change name on my passport without documents? What do I use to tell them my name is now X and now Y anymore?

Hi tiaw, I do NOT believe that you can change the name on your passport without proper documentation. I say this as I read the website as my married daughter still has to get her name changed on her passport.

Here is the website which may answer questions that you have. It is
http://state.travel.gov.

The US Passport section is half way down, in the middle of your screen. You will need to click on "more".

tiaw:
Go to
http://travel.state.gov/passport/fri...amend_851.html
I think you can find the info you need there. Boots

Sorry I didn't mention this in the response I just posted. My daughter-in-law applied in person in Denver where she lives. I think it was a fairly simple procedure. Check your telephone book for the address of the one closest to you. The passport office in my rather small midwestern town is in the post office. Boots

A small detail worth remembering: The name on an international airline ticket has to be the same as the name on your passport.

I heard from a friend who was flying overseas. The name on her passport was her maiden name and the name on the tickets was her new married name. She wasn't allowed to board the plane. The name on both passport and tickets have to be the same.

I've been doing research on line. I found out that to complete the name change you have to have a public notice on a newspaper at least 3 times within 20 days after the order of the court is made. Did you have to do that too, Boots?

I just wish I could do it the easy way. But looks like I have to go to the court house next week.