Can we both change our names??

[single317dad]

My first wife specifically did not want her name changed in our divorce action. Four years later, she wanted to start college and decided to do everything under her maiden name. She took her SS card and drivers license (with my last name), the divorce order that stated there was no name change, and got a new SS card and DL in her maiden name with little to no hassle. She's had no problems since doing that in 2010. So, either the states vary quite a bit in their procedures, or there's just inconsistency throughout the system and no one really knows what they're doing, and your experience will vary based on who you talk to at each office (that's my guess).

 

[TheGeekess]

From the SSA



notice that the requirement for a document supporting a name change must show the old and new names.

so, does PA marriage licenses allow for the pre-marriage and post marriage names to be documented?


and an informal name is just that; an informal name. Your legal name still remains what it was.

I've changed my name (legally) six times because of marriage and divorce. All it took was going to the DMV and sending a copy of the marriage certificate/divorce decree to the appropriate agencies. Since you're male, you haven't had to do this.

 

[justalayman]

My first wife specifically did not want her name changed in our divorce action. Four years later, she wanted to start college and decided to do everything under her maiden name. She took her SS card and drivers license (with my last name), the divorce order that stated there was no name change, and got a new SS card and DL in her maiden name with little to no hassle. She's had no problems since doing that in 2010. So, either the states vary quite a bit in their procedures, or there's just inconsistency throughout the system and no one really knows what they're doing, and your experience will vary based on who you talk to at each office (that's my guess).

yep, and I guarantee that if you handed me one of your paychecks, not endorsed, I could cash it. The fact it has happened doesn't mean it is legal. Did the clerk at the SS office even check the decree where it stated there was no name change?

 

[justalayman]

I've changed my name (legally) six times because of marriage and divorce. All it took was going to the DMV and sending a copy of the marriage certificate/divorce decree to the appropriate agencies. Since you're male, you haven't had to do this.

that is not changing your name. That is changing your name on those documents. There is a difference, a big difference.

 

[justalayman]

this is from an article from ABC news written in 2007. I do not know which, if any states have changed their laws and have not verified the veracity of the statement:

Right now, only six states -- Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York and North Dakota -- explicitly allow a man to change his name through marriage with the same ease as a woman can.

 

[TheGeekess]

that is not changing your name. That is changing your name on those documents. There is a difference, a big difference.

Dude, it's changing the middle name and the surname (Sue Elizabeth Smith becomes Sue Elizabeth Smith Jones). The divorce decrees changed it back to my maiden name (Sue Elizabeth Smith). Sorry if that is outside your realm of experience, but it is what it is.

 

[justalayman]

Dude, it's changing the middle name and the surname (Sue Elizabeth Smith becomes Sue Elizabeth Smith Jones). The divorce decrees changed it back to my maiden name (Sue Elizabeth Smith). Sorry if that is outside your realm of experience, but it is what it is.

Oh, so your divorce decree specifically changed your name. That is not the situation being discussed.

 

[TheGeekess]

Oh, so your divorce decree specifically changed your name. That is not the situation being discussed.

Alrighty then.

 

[ecmst12]

We took the marriage license to the SS office and changed the name with SS. Once we got our new SS cards, (showing our new legal names), we took that to the DMV to get new drivers licenses. Those documents are all we need to change the name with any other entity. The marriage license does not address "post marriage" names, only our names at the time we entered into the marriage contract. The state of PA does not keep a record of our legal names other than through the DMV, which accepted the names on our SS cards. Social security did not give a hoot about our gender when we went in to do the name change.

 

[justalayman]

The state of PA does not keep a record of our legal names other than through the DMV, which accepted the names on our SS cards. Social security did not give a hoot about our gender when we went in to do the name change.

yes they do. The PA Dept of Revenue also keeps your name and associates it with your SSN.

All I asked is for anybody to show me where PA recognizes a name change with a marriage. So far nobody has been able to do that and I have shown that a "legal" name change must be dealt with through the courts otherwise.

I also showed you where the SSA requires a document showing the before and after names. Beyond that, the SSA does not check everybody's states laws when dealing with this so they are not going to know that you can change your middle name in California due to a marriage but you cannot in Nevada. Laws vary a lot through the states. If they simply accepted your marriage cert/license without checking to see if your name had been changed, well, maybe we should start firing incompetent people.

Beyond that, a SSN is not intended to be used as a form of identification. It says so right on the card. If the state took that as an ID, then shame on them.

as an example of what a a state might allow in regards to this, here is the pertinent section of California law:

(b) (1) One party or both parties to a marriage may elect to
change the middle or last names by which that party wishes to be
known after solemnization of the marriage by entering the new name in
the spaces provided on the marriage license application without
intent to defraud.
(2) A person may adopt any of the following middle or last names
pursuant to paragraph (1):
(A) The current last name of the other spouse.
(B) The last name of either spouse given at birth.
(C) A name combining into a single last name all or a segment of
the current last name or the last name of either spouse given at
birth.
(D) A hyphenated combination of last names.

as you can see, California allows a variety of changes, including one's middle name. I guess since you are of the understanding that PA allows a name change, I would have to guess what you can change would be unlimited since it is not defined otherwise, right?

 

[Proserpina]

yes they do. The PA Dept of Revenue also keeps your name and associates it with your SSN.

All I asked is for anybody to show me where PA recognizes a name change with a marriage. So far nobody has been able to do that and I have shown that a "legal" name change must be dealt with through the courts otherwise.

I also showed you where the SSA requires a document showing the before and after names. Beyond that, the SSA does not check everybody's states laws when dealing with this so they are not going to know that you can change your middle name in California due to a marriage but you cannot in Nevada. Laws vary a lot through the states. If they simply accepted your marriage cert/license without checking to see if your name had been changed, well, maybe we should start firing incompetent people.

Beyond that, a SSN is not intended to be used as a form of identification. It says so right on the card. If the state took that as an ID, then shame on them.

as an example of what a a state might allow in regards to this, here is the pertinent section of California law:



as you can see, California allows a variety of changes, including one's middle name. I guess since you are of the understanding that PA allows a name change, I would have to guess what you can change would be unlimited since it is not defined otherwise, right?

I think what this is coming down to is that a marriage license is an official document. It satisfies USCIS, the DMV in all three states with which I'm intimately familiar (WA, PA, ND), and SSA.

Although your marriage certificate grants you the legal documentation to change your name, you will need to notify the appropriate government agencies of your new name.

From here:

http://www.rocketlawyer.com/article/how-to-get-a-legal-name-change-in-pennsylvania-after-getting-married.rl


(Um..I also need to make a VERY embarrassing correction. I lived in PA with my first husband...but we actually got married in MD. Shows you how long ago that was! But still, neither USCIS, SSA or the DMV in PA required a court ordered name change)

 

[justalayman]

I think what this is coming down to is that a marriage license is an official document. It satisfies USCIS, the DMV in all three states with which I'm intimately familiar (WA, PA, ND), and SSA.



From here:

http://www.rocketlawyer.com/article/how-to-get-a-legal-name-change-in-pennsylvania-after-getting-married.rl

so now we have a pocket rocket, I mean rocket lawyer espousing something that yet, still, nobody has provided anything, including rocket boy, as to what legal authority provides for the name change. I have read a lot of misinformation from actual lawyers. Just because he puts esquire after his name doesn't mean he is right.

and yet still, what he is doing is NOT legally changing ones name. It is changing your name on a given document. What law allows for legally changing your name when marrying? and since there does not appear to be a law controlling it, does that mean both partners can change their names? Can they change their first names? Middle names? can they change from Jim J Pocketrocket to Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer? If so, I think I'll divorce my wife and we will go to PA and get married:

Introducing the newlyweds:

Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer and his wife, Tinkerbell the Fairy Princess

 

[justalayman]

I think what this is coming down to is that a marriage license is an official document. It satisfies USCIS, the DMV in all three states with which I'm intimately familiar (WA, PA, ND), and SSA.

Yes, it is but if it does not describe the change in names, just how would the USCIS know what the person's legal name is? If there is nothing legally changing the name from "this" to "that", why would they accept that your name is now "that"?

 

[Proserpina]

so now we have a pocket rocket, I mean rocket lawyer espousing something that yet, still, nobody has provided anything, including rocket boy, as to what legal authority provides for the name change. I have read a lot of misinformation from actual lawyers. Just because he puts esquire after his name doesn't mean he is right.

and yet still, what he is doing is NOT legally changing ones name. It is changing your name on a given document. What law allows for legally changing your name when marrying? and since there does not appear to be a law controlling it, does that mean both partners can change their names? Can they change their first names? Middle names? can they change from Jim J Pocketrocket to Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer? If so, I think I'll divorce my wife and we will go to PA and get married:

Introducing the newlyweds:

Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer and his wife, Tinkerbell the Fairy Princess

(all humour aside, because this just made me LOL)

You may not find any statutory reference allowing for it simply because there's no statute NOT allowing it. Not to oversimplify things, but in the absence of a law saying you can't do something all too often it becomes a matter of "Well, you can".

Remember the Enumclaw case in my fair state of WA?

(And now I've seriously taken this highjack to places where it probably doesn't need to go... )

 

[Proserpina]

Yes, it is but if it does not describe the change in names, just how would the USCIS know what the person's legal name is? If there is nothing legally changing the name from "this" to "that", why would they accept that your name is now "that"?

Because again, they'll accept a marriage certificate as evidence of the name change.

Your initial green card is issued in the name of Delilah Higglebottom. You marry Peter Pumpkin Eater. You'll find that your marriage license is enough proof to convince USCIS to reissue your green card in the name of Delilah Higglebottom-Eater.

(mind you, it'll cost you a pretty penny - but that's besides the point)