New Challenge: Name Change

If you have a passport, you can send that in instead of your license. Also, depending on the state you're in, the offices may open up relatively soon. If anything, you can wait to get it done. I didn't start my name change process until about 3 months after we got married. While some states have a time frame by which you need to start the process, it's usually not an immediate one.

I agree with PP that you should wait until offices start reopening. I feel like on most states the government agencies will reopen within the next month or so, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it!

I've been in the process of getting my name changed this week and honestly, it's been a lot easier than I expected! Call your local SS office and make sure you can mail your stuff to them. That's what I did and I got my stuff back and my new card in a little over a week. I also only had to send in my marriage certificate cause it had my date of birth on it. But I'm in TN so I'm not sure every state is like that. But I was going to send my passport instead of driver's license if they needed my ID. And our DMV's just reopened for full service this week so I went in and changed my driver's license yesterday and it was the quickest trip I've ever had at the DMV. But again, I'm in TN so things are a little different here than in some places and I'm not sure what it's like where you are. And if you're getting married in June, I'd say more places will be open by then. But yeah, no rush to do it all right away! It isn't as bad as you would think though.

In Louisiana we have LA wallet so is you drivers license and if need be it can be scan it’s a pretty cool app to have just in case of an emergency.

Are you sure the Social Security office needs your drivers license? I saw that too when googling info online, but when I called they said that all I needed was a special form and the original Certificate of Marriage. I would call the office and see what you really need. Our offices are closed as well but someone still answered the phone. They had the phones being routed to work phones. Also, mine took 2 months to come back to me. So if they do in fact need your license, I would just wait it out because that is a long time to be without an important legal document.

View Quoted Comment When I called the other day, they said they must have your license. I just have to be patient, which is fine. I just overly excited to use my new name!

View Quoted Comment I wish Florida would get with the times and implement more technology based options. That sounds cool and VERY convenient!

View Quoted Comment I hope so! I’m sure my overreacting is very premature! That’s good your experience was quick. That’s what I’m hoping for as well!

View Quoted Comment That is definitely annoying. I don't blame you on waiting. Can you imagine the pain of them losing important documents like that? Mine took so long that I thought they did lose my stuff! Doesn't feel great when you think your social, address, parents names, birthdate,etc is all on the same document and lost somewhere in town.

View Quoted Comment Exactly!!!!

I'm so glad that I don't need to worry about this. I plan on keeping my maiden name. I always found it odd how in the American culture, women change their last names to their husbands'. I've lived in Asia and South America, visited several dozens of countries and can say over 67 percent of the world's women do not change their last name.

View Quoted Comment My last name has got to go! I don’t really have a connection to it. I think if I was “proud” of it, I wouldn’t care.

I just sent my passport and marriage license last week. I called the office to make sure it was received and they said the mail has to sit for 3 days. Before sending anything, the lady advised me to not send my DL since it could take up to a month. Offices are hoping to open within a month or two, but I'm too impatient to wait that long. Need to change my DL too but now I have to wait for my marriage license to come back lol. Don't really want to pay for another copy. Its an easy process, but all the waiting stinks