I promised myself that I would finish the process of changing my last name within 6 months of marriage and I met my goal (with 1 week to spare!) Changing your name is no simple (or cheap) task, but here are a few tips from my experience that may help you out:- Change your email address first. It is by far the easiest thing to change and it will make you feel accomplished.
- If possible, avoid including your last name (if you plan on changing it in the future) in any usernames (Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) Just makes for more things for you to change.
- If you are traveling out of the country in the few months following your wedding, make sure you purchase your airline tickets under your maiden name. Your passport has to match your legal name at the time of your travel, and a new passport takes 6-8 weeks to receive - and that is after the few weeks it takes for you to even receive your marriage license!
- Apply for your social security name change before your passport. To get a new passport in your new name, you have to send your official marriage license and current passport away in the mail! (I am super uncomfortable about this). You won’t get it back for a month or two and you need to show that official marriage license to change your name with the Social Security Administration (SSA).
- Change your name with the SSA before you file your taxes (if possible). You need to file under the name on your Social Security Card. You can file as 'married' with different last names, but it might just cause unnecessary confusion.
A general checklist for changing your name:
- Passport
- Social Security Card
- Email Accounts
- Social Media Accounts
- Bank Accounts
- Insurance
- Work Records
- Driver’s License
- Doctor and Pharmacy records
- Voter Registration
- Post Office
- Any recurring bills (utilities, cable, etc.)
So happy to be done with this process, but even happier to officially be a Miller.
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