Marriage name change???

[Dmasengl]

New York State

My first issue is that my first name was misspelled on my original birth certificate. It is only a matter of one letter, but has been creating confusion for the better part of my life. (I am 20 years old.) I recently became engaged and have begun planning for my wedding etc. I would like my first name to be correct when I change my last name to that of my future husband...

The question is...Can I change both on the marriage license? Or do I have to have the First name fixed prior to this? If I can avoid the cost and trouble of doing it beforehand, that would be great. If I can't, it would be good to know in time to have the first one fixed so that I can have my married name correct.

Does anyone know how to handle this situation?

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Dmasengl

New York State

My first issue is that my first name was misspelled on my original birth certificate. It is only a matter of one letter, but has been creating confusion for the better part of my life. (I am 20 years old.) I recently became engaged and have begun planning for my wedding etc. I would like my first name to be correct when I change my last name to that of my future husband...

The question is...Can I change both on the marriage license? Or do I have to have the First name fixed prior to this? If I can avoid the cost and trouble of doing it beforehand, that would be great. If I can't, it would be good to know in time to have the first one fixed so that I can have my married name correct.

Does anyone know how to handle this situation?

Your legal name is the name that appears on your birth certificate. I personally would recommend going ahead and changing your first name before you get married. There is probably a way to do it all together, but it would be likely to cause confusion.

[Dmasengl]

What about these name change kits that they sell online? Is that worth investigating? I don't want to have to pay a lawyer to deal with this. I'd rather handle as much of it myself as possible...Is there away to get around that?

[shannon77586]

Hi, it sounds as if you're not actually "changing" your first name, but rather, are looking to correct a typo on the original document. Vital statistics documents are usually filed at city hall, with a county agency registering such documents, or a state Bureau of Vital Statistics (or similar name). It seems that you should be able to contact the agency where the original document is filed to make the correction. Hope this helps.