Name Change - Part 2 (a mess)

My DMV Appointment

After we received our marriage license, I made an appointment with the California DMV to get the RealID.  Since I would have to go to the DMV to change my name anyway, I figured I would be super efficient by doing my name change and getting the RealID at the same time.

The appointment did not go well.

My marriage certificate was deemed "unacceptable" for the name change.

When my husband and I filled out the marriage license application, we did not choose "new names."  There was no indication during the marriage license application process that choosing a new name needed to be done right then and there.  Actually, we were very much under the impression my name change decision was an easy thing to do once I decided to so, whenever that may be.

We went to the registrar's office and filed for the license and the registrar's office did not say "Hey!  If you have any indication you might want to change your name, you better fill out sections 30 a-c or 31 a-c, otherwise it's a cluster."  Nope, none of that.

Back to the DMV office... the clerk completing the paperwork for my RealID would not accept my marriage license as evidence for my name change.  She said that since section 31, fields a-c, were not filled out with my desired name after marriage, they could not change my name.  My social security card with my new name meant nothing to them.  She sad that the SSA has different rules for name changes than the DMV, and that my SS card displaying my new name was not pertinent to my name change with the DMV.  To rectify my marriage certificate issue, the clerk suggested I contact my minister to get the certificate changed... 

Knowing that my minister wasn't where I needed to start, I called the DMV, after leaving, to get more information on why my marriage license was not acceptable.  Apparently, any marriage license issued in California after 2008 is required to provide the name after marriage based upon The Name Equality Act of 2007.  Rough.

The DMV associate on the phone tried to help and point me in the direction of how to change the marriage license.  Unluckily for me, the form she suggested allows changes for ANY fields other than 30 or 31, "new names, if any."

Fields 30 and/or 31 that must be filled in for the DMV and DHS

So this has left me with filing a petition with the Superior Court of Los Angeles for a name change.  Fun.

Petition for Change of Name

Filing the petition costs $435.

Along with filing for the name change with the court, you must also Publish the Order to Show Cause for Change of Name with a newspaper.  This costs between $250 and $400, depending upon the publication you choose.

You will be given a hearing date about 6 weeks out from your filing date.  Some courthouses you are required to attend your hearing.  Other courthouses will post the decision of the petition prior to the hearing date if no one contests the name change request.  You receive your court order and away you go.

Of course my courthouse requires me to attend.  Take time off work... I have a hearing date set for August 3rd.

My Takeaway

This whole process has been an absolute mess and a headache.  For someone who really wasn't sure about changing her name in the first place, this is the worst possible path the process could go down.  I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing the name change for a bigger, greater reason.  This rather large bump in the road is just that, a bump.

Brandon, being the supportive husband he is, said, "when we send our Christmas card as 'The Tweeds,"' this will all be worth it."

If you have any questions about your marriage certificate or changing your name, I can certainly try to help as I'm pretty well versed in the whole process now.