A Guide to Name Changing

When I decided to go ahead and change my name, I never gave much thought to the amount of paperwork it would take. When you think about it, your name is pretty much on everything you touch and you have to change it on everything. It sounds worse on paper than it actually is, but I thought it might be helpful to put a guide out there so people can prepare.

Step 1: Get Married! You'll need to apply for a marriage license and pay the fee to do this. It was $90.00  in Los Angeles.

Step 2: Submit your signed marriage license to your local courthouse in person or have it notarized and mail it in.

Step 3: Pay $14.00 per copy for a certified marriage license. We got 2 which I'm hoping will be plenty.

Step 4: Wait 6-8 weeks for them to mail you your certified copies. Depending on your DMV, you may want to make an appointment during this time if it has a long wait period.



Step 5: Visit the closest social security office and fill out the paperwork to change your name. This is free and only took me about 10 minutes.

Step 6: Go to your DMV appointment, fill out paperwork, take a new photo and pay for a new license. You'll probably get a temporary license for three months while they make your new one. This should run you $25.00 in California. (I haven't done this step yet, my appointment isn't until May) This took me about an hour including wait time and wasn't too bad. I was bummed that they wouldn't let me wear my glasses in my new photo though, I never take photos without them!  You also need to make sure you bring your certified marriage license.

Step 7: Make an appointment at your bank of choice. Bring your certified marriage license to change your name and your partner if you're merging finances. Go over any changes carefully, our bank managed to send us the wrong cards multiple times, our accounts didn't link correctly, and they forgot to close E's accounts.

Step 8:  Apply for your passport. This is about $150 or more depending on how fast you want it and whether or not you already have a passport. If you have one already (as I did) the renewal application,  Form DS-82, is $75.00. You can choose to pay for a passport photo OR bring in a two photos 2"x2" of your head and shoulders facing forward against a white background. If you want overnight return shipping, a weather-proof, padded mailer and priority mailing with delivery confirmation it's an additional $15.00. You'll need to hand over your marriage certificate, so make photocopies before you go. 

Step 9: Send letters to all your creditors, student loans, and any other professional associations. I still need to send letters to my student loan companies but this should only cost you postage, about $5.00.

Step 10: Change your name with all the various companies you're a member of/subscribe to: ebay, paypal, magazines, netflix, stores, etc.