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Husband's last name is different on documents


Demitoo
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On 4/12/2019 at 9:16 PM, Demitoo said:

@navybankerteacher in California 30 years ago when he was 16 years old they didn't really ask questions or need any proof of who you are. You just walked into DMV filled out the paperwork and received your DL. 

REALLY?

 

When I got my DL over 45 years ago, I had to show a birth certificate.

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On 4/13/2019 at 4:48 PM, Essiesmom said:

I'm suspecting that she never legally changed it.  Just started calling him the different name.  He is fortunate that she is still living.  They might be able to get the BC changed if she writes an affidavit to the vital records dept (or whatever that state calls it) telling what was done.  but again, he still might have to go to court to get it changed.  EM

 

No, you cannot get the BC changed.  What you do is get a legal document changing the name.

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We have decided to put off the cruise until we can get his documents corrected. I just wish we knew about this before I booked the cruise. I was so excited! Trying not to be too upset. Thank you everyone for your help and support.

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11 hours ago, fyree39 said:

As for a marriage certificate, when I got married it dawned on me I could write in ANY last name I wanted to, not simply my husband's last name.

That is not true in all jurisdictions. My niece and her fiance wanted to both change their last names to a new name when they were married, but had to go through legal name changes to do so.

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14 hours ago, fyree39 said:

As for a marriage certificate, when I got married it dawned on me I could write in ANY last name I wanted to, not simply my husband's last name.

What do you mean by “marriage certificate”?  If it’s a cutesy scroll from a Las Vegas chapel, perhaps.  If it’s an official identifying document from a state or municipal governmental agency - which is based upon recognized ID’s furnished by both parties to obtain the license which the officiating party requires before marrying — not so likely.

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22 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

What do you mean by “marriage certificate”?  If it’s a cutesy scroll from a Las Vegas chapel, perhaps.  If it’s an official identifying document from a state or municipal governmental agency - which is based upon recognized ID’s furnished by both parties to obtain the license which the officiating party requires before marrying — not so likely.

My wife was a German National who married an Army guy.  A few years later, she got her citizenship.  She was able to obtain her naturalization in the name of her choice.  I guess the naturalization certificate is like a birth certificate.  I know that when she applied for a passport, she had to produce the naturalization certificate, not her German birth certificate.

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1 minute ago, RocketMan275 said:

My wife was a German National who married an Army guy.  A few years later, she got her citizenship.  She was able to obtain her naturalization in the name of her choice.  I guess the naturalization certificate is like a birth certificate.  I know that when she applied for a passport, she had to produce the naturalization certificate, not her German birth certificate.

When you say “...name of her choice...”, are you saying that she was able to get her naturalization without any connection to her originally submitted proof of identity - or just that she could choose between her maiden name and her hisband’s name?

 

It makes sense for her passport to be based upon her US proof of identity (naturalization certificate) rather than the earlier, non-US, source.

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Just now, navybankerteacher said:

When you say “...name of her choice...”, are you saying that she was able to get her naturalization without any connection to her originally submitted proof of identity - or just that she could choose between her maiden name and her hisband’s name?

 

It makes sense for her passport to be based upon her US proof of identity (naturalization certificate) rather than the earlier, non-US, source.

She changed her given name.  Too many Americans were confused by her given German name so she chose an American name to avoid the confusion.   She had previously adopted her husband's last name.  

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2 hours ago, fyree39 said:

Not the cutesy.  I had a blank line for current name (my maiden name) and new name (my husband's name if I wrote it in there, which I did).

So, if your choice was between keeping your maiden name or entering your husband’s name, it was not really a matter of being able to “... WRITE IN ANY LAST NAME...” as you claimed in your Thursday 10:48 PM post - which led to many of the following posts.

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9 hours ago, fyree39 said:

There was nothing on the license that indicated I had to write in my husband's last name. I could have written in Shewhomustbeobeyed and it would have been fine.  How is it done in your state?  This is my second marriage.  My first was in Hawaii and we got married at the justice of the peace.  I can't remember what was requested on the license in that state.

In CT each party must provide some ID (license, passport, birth certificate) to obtain marriage license - which, naturally allows for the applicants to enter names.  Where the form says “enter name” it obviously means the name your provided ID indicates —- not just any name which comes to mind. 

 

The official who issues the license is not authorized to confirm name change — and will only issue the license carrying the names shown on the required ID.

 

Do you REALLY believe that the marriage license in Hawaii - or anywhere else  -would ignore the names provided on the required ID?

 

(Whoever performs the ceremony (minister, judge, etc.)   simply confirms that the two named individuals were married.

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It was a long time ago, but I thought the first thing that happened at my wedding (court house) was to check ID and compare to the names on the license.  Only one person had to be present to get the license.

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8 hours ago, SRF said:

It was a long time ago, but I thought the first thing that happened at my wedding (court house) was to check ID and compare to the names on the license.  Only one person had to be present to get the license.

Presumably that one person had ID’s for both - or didn’t the clerk check?

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While this is all true, the several marriage certificates in my possession (the official, RealID-valid ones issued by the country) show the names of the parties before the ceremony, but do not show whether either spouse has changed their name. There's an assumption (only) that the woman changes her name to match the man but I wonder for how long that will be a valid assumption on which to base RealID.

 

Don't get me started on middle names (given middle name or maiden name? Last name from first marriage?) which is the limbo my wife's RealID application status has been in for months.

Edited by Underwatr
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14 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Presumably that one person had ID’s for both - or didn’t the clerk check?

 

Nope, they checked when the license was used.  

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11 hours ago, Underwatr said:

While this is all true, the several marriage certificates in my possession (the official, RealID-valid ones issued by the country) show the names of the parties before the ceremony, but do not show whether either spouse has changed their name. There's an assumption (only) that the woman changes her name to match the man but I wonder for how long that will be a valid assumption on which to base RealID.

 

Don't get me started on middle names (given middle name or maiden name? Last name from first marriage?) which is the limbo my wife's RealID application status has been in for months.

 

Many states have laws on that.  We ran into that.  My wife did not use her legal first name, and went by her middle name.  In Maryland, upon marriage, she could drop her middle name, substituting her maiden last name, or keep both, or take both last names (typically hyphenated) or change nothing.  No paperwork needed. 

 

But to drop her first name, would take a court visit.

 

The marriage certificate is the bridging document.  If either party (these days) takes the other's last name, that is fine.  Or if they keep their names or take both last names.  Both of them are on the marriage certificate. As long as it is some legal combination of the names on the certificate.

 

The problem the OP had was that the BC last name did not match other documents and what he was using.  So there was no way to bridge the BC to the other documents.  No different that someone trying to use someone else's BC.

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3 hours ago, SRF said:

 

The problem the OP had was that the BC last name did not match other documents and what he was using.  So there was no way to bridge the BC to the other documents.  No different that someone trying to use someone else's BC.

Great summation of the legalities.

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I think the discussion of marriage licenses it an offshoot of the OP's issue, but it's where we are in the discussion.

 

The fact that the bridging documents don't clearly state the post-wedding name used means that a married woman has the opportunity to present herself with any of several identities, any of which can be supported by the bridging documents in use. Not necessarily an issue for the traveler but it does present a flaw in RealID.

 

In my wife's case her passport has her given middle name (due to our interpretation of how the application was phrased) although the name she assumed after our marriage uses her previous last name (not her maiden name) as her middle name (for professional reasons as well as to maintain a name common with her son). We note which middle name appears on the ID that will be used for travel (e.g., cruises use the passport, purely domestic travel might use her DL) and book accordingly. As recently as 2019 the use of the middle name is optional on domestic tickets on Southwest.

 

Her first RealID application bounced because the middle name on her DL doesn't match that on her Passport. BC plus bridging documents will supposedly fix this, although there is nothing in the bridging documents that affirms the choice of middle name or even current last name.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Underwatr
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Again, there are laws about what names can be legally used after marriage.

 

If the current name meets those laws, then the marriage certificate does bridge.

 

With multiple name changes (maiden to first marriage to second marriage), where a BC is required, it may require more than one bridging document.

 

Although, we did have an interesting issue on one flight with my ex.  As mentioned, she uses her middle name.  Her airline booking and FF account does not have her first name.  We were taking a flight Canada, so needed to present her passport.  Which has her first name.  The agent went nuts about how TSA would not allow her to board as the names did not match.  So she presented her work ID, which did not have her first name.  The agent was still not happy.  Until she pointed out who issued the ID.  She works for DHS. 😄

 

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On 5/3/2019 at 9:31 AM, Underwatr said:

Tell me more. Any state's law will do.

 

As I stated before, when I got married, MD law allowed (at least for the wife, did not check about husband), that the wife could keep her own name.  She could add her husbands last name and keep all her name.  She could drop her middle name and substitute her maiden last name.  Or she could hyphenate the last names.

 

Anything else required a court name change.

 

So Jane Marie Smith marries John Jones.  At the time, legal names for her would have been:

 

Jane Marie Smith

Jane Marie Smith Jones

Jane Smith Jones

Jane Marie Smith-Jones (and possible Jones-Smith, it was a LONG time ago).

 

My wife took number 2.  She wanted to go to Marie Smith Jones, but that would have required court work.

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So no provision in MD for Jane Marie Jones? 

 

Back in the 1990s the Department of State accepted Jane Marie Jones for my wife's passport. Her DL reads Jane S Jones, which is the form she uses (she'll use Jane Smith Jones if signing a document that presents that form). Perhaps the Post Office should not have accepted a passport application that didn't exactly match the photo ID provided, although it can be traced from the bridging documents. 

 

The passport pplication asks for "middle name" so she used her given middle name there. 

 

 

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