name change

ok so i have already changed my name to:

first middle maiden married

but its becoming more trouble than its worth. I only kept my maiden name there bc im still in school doing my masters in teaching and was worried about ppwk. My one job has my name listed as just first married and the other( in a school) has both such as first maiden married.

I had my insurance card (under dh) say first married then when i officially added it and had them update the school's records they sent me new card with both names now. i had to go for an xray once and they combined both names together and it was hard to find a record of me in the computer bc of that.

I didn't want that. I plan on using dh's name but just kept for ppwk reasons that are leaving me so confused.I'm really considering going back to dmv and social security to just use dh's name and be done with it. what do u think? anyone else have this problem???

Re: name change

I made my new last name both names, no hyphen, same as you, and I just use his last name for everything except my driver's license, SS card, and passport. All my credit cards and bank accounts are just in my married name. All my medical records are just in my married name.

I just got my license to practice law in NC and that's in both names (no middle name) and it wasn't a big deal. I updated my NY and NJ licenses to both last names.

I think you need to stick with a plan for your records and credit cards and bank accounts and everything and keep everything that way. Then you'll only have to change it once. Having some things in both names and some with just his name is too much trouble to keep straight.

I also don't know if you can change your license, etc, again without going to court and having your name officially changed, since the name on your marriage license is your legal name now.

However, as long as you are not trying to defraud anyone, in NY you can choose to use whatever name you want. So you CAN switch everything to JUST his last name and keep them consistent, even if your 'legal' name is both names now.

Hope that helps. If I'm confusing, feel free to FM me and I'll try to explain better.

Re: name change

Thanks Sandra!

I plan on just using DH's name and have already changed some credit cards. My concern was with my health insurance because it went from just his name to now both and i don't want to use it that way. I guess it will have to be like that and my passport will just have both with my license and ss card. i will check back with my HR dept 'and see if they can change it back to just dh's name. such a pain, i wish i would have just done it from the beginning. thanks for the advice.

Re: name change

I hope it works out! They should be able to do it, or you can call the insurance company directly and explain to them that you want to have it in just his last name so your medical records are easier to search. They might understand.

In NC, the default when people get married is that you automatically get to add your maiden name as your second middle name (don't we wish NY let us do that???) so even though my maiden name is my 'first last name' everyone in NC automatically assumes that it's my second middle name... and they put all my records under my married name. I guess in a way that has helped me a little. When I went to vote last year, I was shocked that my voter registration was under his last name and not both names, since I signed up at the DMV (and they know I have two last names).

Wow it does sound confusing if you don't know what we're talking about lol.

The only place I've had an annoying problem is my air miles bonus accounts with different airlines. Delta won't switch my name without a copy of my marriage license and I'm way too lazy to fax it to them, and the other ones switched it to just my married name, but my passport has both names on them so I have issues checking in! Domestic flights it's no big deal, but in general it's become a little bit of a pain. Fortunately we're not flying anywhere international again for quite a while so I'm not too worried about it.