Name change - taking the plunge

I'm a pretty organized person... I planned our entire wedding on my own, creating timelines, budgets, etc. and stuck to them.  I'm pretty sure "organized" is one of the top 10 words, maybe even top 5, people would use to describe me.

Even with this in mind, I have felt overwhelmed by the multiple steps involved in the name change process. 

HitchSwitch Name Change Process

To take the plunge, I decided to buy the HitchSwtich.com print at home package service.  It's 30 dollars.  With how busy I am, I gladly paid the 30 dollars for someone else to fill out my paperwork and tell me how to do the name change.

The form took about 5 minutes to complete, and then I was ready to log into the portal with all my forms ready to print off and take to their respective government offices.  The thing I really like is that they have all the forms in order of when you do them.  There is no confusion.

I'm starting with the Social Security office this week, wish me luck!

I made an appointment at the DMV for June.  It was the soonest I could get!

Since I live in California, there is the new "RealID" option that I want to get taken care of at the same time as I change my name.  I had to renew my license earlier in the year, so my visit in June will let me cover my name change and get the new fancy ID so I don't have to travel with my passport starting in 2020.

After that, I'll get everything updated at work for tax filings and such, but I'm not feeling too crazed after seeing the breakdown by HitchSwitch.  I'll keep you posted on my success!