Hello!

So, I am getting married in less then 30 days. I am trying to make a list of every place I need to change my name with and just thought about all the MS companies I am signed up with. Do I need to change my name with ALL of these companies? I'm assuming so but I just thought I would ask if anyone else had to do this and has any recommendations.

Thanks for the feedback!

I am not any kind of expert on this topic, but I would just change it with the ones I do work for.

Why change it all?

Good question. I'm sure if any of those companies will be providing you with a 1099 at the end of the year, this may cause some issues if not properly addressed. Otherwise, won't there be a conflict anyways since your married name will now be tied to your social security number?

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I'm not an expert either. As long as you keep your email address I would go into my profile, change your name and notify the MSC. I would only do this with the companies you are shopping for and change your name as you shop for other companies.

I have no idea but just wanted to say congrats!

Based on my own experience, your name with the MSCs has to match the name on your SS card. I've been married 10 years and still have my maiden name on my SS card, so most of my MSC profiles also have my maiden name, even though my photo ID (DL) shows my married name.

Most people nowadays keep their maiden name professionally, especially if they have an established identity. There is really no reason to change either your SS, or bank account or driver's license. You can be introduced as Mrs Groom and put it in your mail box as hyphenated, but on legal papers use your maiden name.

Going through all the legalities of a name change is much harder than it was prior to 9/11. On the other hand, using whatever name you want socially involves nothing at all.

Based on a long lifetime of experience changing names, if I had it to do over I would never change my name. First of all, it's a lot of hassle. Second and most important of all, your name is part of your identity and when you give it up you give up a part of yourself. I found out the hard way and I regret it so much. Only in recent years have I picked up my maiden name and now I use it for my middle name. It feels good.

If you have a problem with your guy over this, you might want to give the source of that problem some real serious consideration. If he's really into the name changing thing, he could always change his name to your name.

When I got married in the 1960s I changed my name. When I got divorced in the 1980s I went back to my maiden name. On more than one occasion I have wished that I had kept my maiden name officially when I married because there are still things that pop up that have my old married name and now require copies of the divorce decree etc. to get the name changed.

If you are going to make the change official, start with the companies you are working with once you have your new SS card and start making the changes. It is a good idea to revisit all of your profiles at least once a year and that would be a good time to note change of marital status and new name if you are even allowed to change your name on your profile. Make yourself a list of the companies you are registered with and check them off as you make the changes.

My maiden name is my middle name, so that prevents a lot of headache.

I changed banks this week. The spreadsheet I use to track my shops was a huge help for changing my direct deposits.

Congrats!

I had a hyphenated name on paper for several years after getting married. It was a long time ago but I never had any problem with the IRS. At the time they did not seem to care who they got their money from as long as it was attached to the same social security number they got the tax reports from.After waiting in a line that did not move for 10 minutes I decided to just wait years until my license was up for renewal to change my name there. This never seemed to be an issue. The reason I finally changed my name at the time was because I just got tired of everyone asking me why my my husband and I had different names.
There are many people who work under a different name than their "legal" name. Think of the entertainment people who often change their name for work. They do not always legally change to that name and have no issues paying taxes.
I am not a legal expert at all I just know the IRS does not seem to me to care.

Getting married......Don't do it!...

If you change the name on your bank accounts, you will have trouble with checks made out to your old name. Same thing may happen if you change the name on your PayPal account, and as others have pointed out, you are asking for trouble if the name on a 1099 does not match the name that the Social Security Administration thinks belongs with your SSN. So, if you change your name with SSA, you are committed to start changing everything.

I kept my maiden name. My husband of umpteen years had no problem with that.

The IRS matches names and SSNs with the Social Security Administration. If you change your name, it must be changed with the SSA to make it legal. The IRS will sync. If you legally change your name with the SSA, and If you don't change your name with MSCs, and your work generates a 1099, it could present problems. The IRS may reject your tax return due to an incorrect name/number.

I've never been married, but it seems insane that hundreds of thousands of people (mostly women) have to go through all this hassle every year when they get married and there hasn't been a centralized way created for changing your name in one place. I'm imagining the amount of my tax dollars that are spent paying public employees to manually process name change paperwork. Yeesh.

Just one more thing making it more expensive to be a woman

Rather than debate whether you should change your name at all, I'll share my experience.

I got married in 2013. I was very slow to get my name changed with everything. In fact, all of my "assets" (stocks, ira, etc) are still in my maiden name. I've had no problem from a tax perspective, since tax forms have a spot to put in your maiden name. My primary bank, Chase, has given me no hassles when I deposit a check with my maiden name (however, I do those "for deposit only" and have not tried to just cash such a check and withdrawal the funds immediately). They can also look back in their records and see what my former name was. On the other hand, I have an account with a smaller credit union which I haven't changed my name with. They are not particularly fond of accepting checks made out to my married name since they have no record of that name. But, they have still accepted them when they were stamped (not hand written) with "for deposit only" and the account number.

The other thing that helped me on occasion is that when I went in to change my name with the dmv, they now mail new drivers licenses, so I was allowed to keep my old one until the new one came. I actually held on to it for a couple years, that way if I needed Id for a credit card that I hadn't changed the name on, I had something that matched.

So I would say that yes, eventually, you should change your name with all the companies, but it's not a process that needs to happen instantly. The chances of your bank turning down a direct deposit because the deposit says your maiden name rather than married name is very unlikely.

If you sign up for the free trial of job slinger plus, you can update your info for all sassie accounts at once, so that may help some.

Women choose to change their names. The whole debacle could be avoided by keeping their name.

I think it is silly to change the name. This is a tradition that comes from a time when women belonged to men. It is like a transfer of ownership (as evidenced in many marriage ceremonies) from the father to the husband. It is beyond me why any woman would continue to perpetuate this BS.

My former fiance had an issue with my refusal to change my name. He couldn't understand how it could be a problem after I had spent a lifetime building business contacts, not to mention the expense and hassles already mentioned. It wasn't the only reason, but sure was on the list of reasons he became my "former" fiance.

If it was so easy, I'm sure he would have been happy to change his last name.

They don;t have to go through this. It is not a requirement, merely a choice which is common in the US. It is ranges from common to never in other countries.

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

I've never been married, but it seems insane that hundreds of thousands of people (mostly women) have to go through all this hassle every year when they get married and there hasn't been a centralized way created for changing your name in one place. I'm imagining the amount of my tax dollars that are spent paying public employees to manually process name change paperwork. Yeesh.

*a centralized way created for changing your name in one place.*

Maybe someone will invent that. We need an app for that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2016 05:23PM by reader99.

I got married in 1972 and changed everything into my new married name. It was a hassle. Got divorced in 1976 and was offered a chance to go back to my maiden name but declined as it was still too much of a hassle and in the meantime annoyed some of my relatives. Re-married in 2001 and now use old married name as my legal name and new married home as my social name. This time really annoyed family members. Again, this was not really any concern of theirs. My husband has no problems with it but some of my relatives on Facebook do such as my brother.. Many of my friends in similiar situations use old married name-new married name. If I were to do it all over again I would have stayed with my maiden name.

I suppose ONLY if you have checks coming. I never changed my name 19 years ago. I told my bank checks could come in maiden and married.. they accept both.

I never changed my name. DH and I agreed on that before getting married. Makes things so much easier. Yes, people ask, but it's an opportunity to educate them that there's no legal requirement for a name change and it can be a major hassle. Call yourself whatever you want - you can be Mrs. HisLastName socially if it matters to you - just leave your official documents in your birth name.

Hi blondegodumb,

I got married and changed my name. I then got divorced and had to change it back. I am not going to comment on your choice to change it. Needless to say if you are getting married and want to change your name why would you not want to go through all the work to prove it to the world? I personally will not ever change my name for multiple reasons to include going through that again (I have been divorced over 20 years), people will know you are married and not single (that can change outcomes sometimes), I hated my married name and liked my maiden name, and if you do not change with all the companies you may have to prove it one day. To prove it you need your Social Security card, birth certificate and marriage license. I did see a person state their bank took their maiden and married name checks. My mother operated like this most of her life.