Is anyone else dreading the...

[inloveinpa]

name change process?!! I just looked up all of the documents, places, people, etc. that you have to contact and forms to be filled out to change your name after marriage...and I feel SOOOO overwhelmed about it! My wedding isn''t for another 9 months, but I just had a mini-heart attack thinking about all of the places your name has to be changed to and who needs to be notified. It''s another huge project after planning the wedding.

Just had to vent about this because it just freaked me out! LOL.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

yep--so much so that five months after our wedding I have yet to legally do it

 

[Lauren8211]

It was seriously not that bad for me. Once I got it changed on my SS and Drivers License, I only had to call my credit cards, insurance, utilities, and then stop in at the bank and it was done. There was no hassle, everyone did it without a problem.

I thought it was going to be the worst thing ever, but it went very quickly and smoothly.

 

[BeachRunner]

Date: 2/8/2010 3:53:36 PM
Author: elledizzy5
It was seriously not that bad for me. Once I got it changed on my SS and Drivers License, I only had to call my credit cards, insurance, utilities, and then stop in at the bank and it was done. There was no hassle, everyone did it without a problem.

I thought it was going to be the worst thing ever, but it went very quickly and smoothly.

Ditto. Going to SS and the DMV wasn''t that bad. I admit I still have a couple places to call and change my name, but, it''s not that bad.

 

[meresal]

I was married on July 25th, and just updated mine as of 3 weeks ago! Got my new SSC in the mail 2 weeks ago.

To be honest, the paperwork isn't the pain, it is that the social security office hours are 9-4, which makes is almost entirely impossible to ever go, if you have a day job. I didn't feel comfortable putting my marriage license and driver's license in an envelope.

That is the toughest part, the rest is just going in and showing the people your new SSC and marriage license... *I'm pretty sure*

I needed to get on the ball so that my insurance would change over before the baby is born. DH was not thrilled about the baby being "Baby Meresal's last name" when he is born.

 

[CurlySue]

Is it weird that I am actually looking forward to it???

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I live in NYC so the wait at SS and the DMV is quite long but I am going to bite the bullet and do it this week

 

[elrohwen]

I freaked out about it for about 4 months after my wedding before finally doing it.

I'll say doing the "official" stuff (SS, DMV) was pretty easy. However, I've had 3 phone calls and one office visit with Comcast and my name still isn't changed

I also had to visit my bank twice and call 3 times (just for one credit card and debit card). It's definitely been a pain! I still have a few other places that require me to mail something in and I'm procrastinating. And my name still isn't changed on my health insurance card. Sigh. Also haven't done my passport because I have to mail in my marriage certificate and I really don't want to.

You'll get through it though

 

[meresal]

Date: 2/8/2010 4:12:01 PM
Author: elrohwen
I freaked out about it for about 4 months after my wedding before finally doing it.

I'll say doing the 'official' stuff (SS, DMV) was pretty easy. However, I've had 3 phone calls and one office visit with Comcast and my name still isn't changed

I also had to visit my bank twice and call 3 times (just for one credit card and debit card). It's definitely been a pain! I still have a few other places that require me to mail something in and I'm procrastinating. And my name still isn't changed on my insurance card. Sigh. Also haven't done my passport because I have to mail in my marriage certificate and I really don't want to.

You'll get through it though

El, I don't call Comcast anymore... DH won't let me. He says it bad for my "health"

If they make him irritated enough, he actually threatens to put ME on the phone!

We are about to move into a new house, so we let our contract expire and are paying month to month, and when we move, we will just use his name on the contract. LOL! I aviod those freaks like the plague!

 

[BeachRunner]

Date: 2/8/2010 4:14:38 PM
Author: meresal

Date: 2/8/2010 4:12:01 PM
Author: elrohwen
I freaked out about it for about 4 months after my wedding before finally doing it.

I''ll say doing the ''official'' stuff (SS, DMV) was pretty easy. However, I''ve had 3 phone calls and one office visit with Comcast and my name still isn''t changed

I also had to visit my bank twice and call 3 times (just for one credit card and debit card). It''s definitely been a pain! I still have a few other places that require me to mail something in and I''m procrastinating. And my name still isn''t changed on my insurance card. Sigh. Also haven''t done my passport because I have to mail in my marriage certificate and I really don''t want to.

You''ll get through it though

El, I don''t call Comcast anymore... DH won''t let me. He says it bad for my ''health''

If they make him irritated enough, he actually threatens to put ME on the phone!

We are about to move into a new house, so we let our contract expire and are paying month to month, and when we move, we will just use his name on the contract. LOL! I aviod those freaks like the plague!

threadjack:
This company makes my blood boil!

I completely understand Mere!
end threadjack

 

[sunnyd]

I have to change my green card

before I can change anything!!

 

[charbie]

make yourself a list of places you need to change your name...any bills you pay, any accounts you have, etc.

i changed my name legally just a few weeks after our wedding, and still receive mail and other stuff in my maiden name. it hasn''t been a big deal, i usually just have to ask everyone to look under "charbie''s maiden name" and "charbie''s married name" and usually it pops up!

 

[Amanda.Rx]

YES! It would be so much easier to do it before I finish school and move, but I''m scared to death that it will screw up my board exams if my graduating name were different than my board application name.

I''ve told FI that if he wants me to take his name, then he''s going to have to find out where I need to go and what paperwork I have to fill out (since he doesn''t HAVE to do it).

 

[Inanna]

Date: 2/8/2010 3:53:36 PM
Author: elledizzy5
It was seriously not that bad for me. Once I got it changed on my SS and Drivers License, I only had to call my credit cards, insurance, utilities, and then stop in at the bank and it was done. There was no hassle, everyone did it without a problem.

I thought it was going to be the worst thing ever, but it went very quickly and smoothly.

+1. I managed to knock out the SS office, DMV, and my bank all within an hour. It was the day after Thanksgiving so all three offices were virtually empty.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Date: 2/8/2010 4:14:38 PM
Author: meresal

Date: 2/8/2010 4:12:01 PM
Author: elrohwen
I freaked out about it for about 4 months after my wedding before finally doing it.

I'll say doing the 'official' stuff (SS, DMV) was pretty easy. However, I've had 3 phone calls and one office visit with Comcast and my name still isn't changed

I also had to visit my bank twice and call 3 times (just for one credit card and debit card). It's definitely been a pain! I still have a few other places that require me to mail something in and I'm procrastinating. And my name still isn't changed on my insurance card. Sigh. Also haven't done my passport because I have to mail in my marriage certificate and I really don't want to.

You'll get through it though

El, I don't call Comcast anymore... DH won't let me. He says it bad for my 'health'

If they make him irritated enough, he actually threatens to put ME on the phone!

We are about to move into a new house, so we let our contract expire and are paying month to month, and when we move, we will just use his name on the contract. LOL! I aviod those freaks like the plague!

I gave up trying to change my name on my Comcast bill. I've tried to change it so many times and it never works. Just last week I had to call them and when they asked my name I said Nicole "marriedname", but you will have it filed under Nicole "maidenname". The guy told me he could change it, then when I called back again that afternoon (for the unresolved issue), the account was still under my maiden name.

Like everybody else, though, my process was fairly easy. I spent about a half day in court legally adding my maiden name as a second middle name and even then the whole process didn't take more than a day and a half or so (for SS office, DMV, passport paperwork, bank, credit card, etc.). It was all the little stuff like bills, my blockbuster card, etc. that kept popping up that seemed to take more time.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Agree with the others - the major stuff is pretty straightforward, its all the little tiny things that keep popping up that can be a bit of a pain. I''ve been married for 3.5+ years now, changed my name right after the wedding, and still periodically come across things that I never got around to changing. Its not a huge hassle though, and wasn''t at the time - just do the SS and the DMV first and then go from there

 

[GoingCrazy29]

It really wasn''t bad for me either. I used this website and used their templates for notifying my bank, insurance, etc. Other than that I just had to go to the SSA office and DMV to get those two changed. Just start the process and hopefully it won''t be too painful

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 2/8/2010 4:14:38 PM
Author: meresal

Date: 2/8/2010 4:12:01 PM
Author: elrohwen
I freaked out about it for about 4 months after my wedding before finally doing it.

I'll say doing the 'official' stuff (SS, DMV) was pretty easy. However, I've had 3 phone calls and one office visit with Comcast and my name still isn't changed

I also had to visit my bank twice and call 3 times (just for one credit card and debit card). It's definitely been a pain! I still have a few other places that require me to mail something in and I'm procrastinating. And my name still isn't changed on my insurance card. Sigh. Also haven't done my passport because I have to mail in my marriage certificate and I really don't want to.

You'll get through it though

El, I don't call Comcast anymore... DH won't let me. He says it bad for my 'health'

If they make him irritated enough, he actually threatens to put ME on the phone!

We are about to move into a new house, so we let our contract expire and are paying month to month, and when we move, we will just use his name on the contract. LOL! I aviod those freaks like the plague!

DH is horrible about making phone calls for stuff like this, so I won't put his name on the bill because I know he would never call if we had a problem

I agree, they are awful. Though I thought Cablevision was just as bad when I had them.

 

[laughwithme]

Part of me is dreading it...another part of me is soooo excited to be Mrs. W that I want to start on the forms early

 

[zipzapgirl]

Mine wasn''t so bad. Just do it in one big swoop, stay organized by keeping everything on hand with you for a few weeks, and you''ll be fine.

The worst place to change my name was my airline points--it involved faxes and all sorts of backup docs. I guess they''d rather you give up and forfeit the points.

By the way, there are some threads in the newlyweds forum on how to go about it, pitfalls, hyphenating vs. maiden to middle vs. dropping maiden, etc.

 

[MeowMeow]

I am nervous about the name change actually!! But mostly because I will probably end up with 5 last names and then have to do it a second time when I beome a doctor. I looked at the paper work because my fiance wants to change his current name and only noticed three name spaces. First middle and last X.x Does anyone else have experience with more than three names? like example mine is going to be First, Middle, maiden name, mothers maiden name so it doesn''t die out hyphen husbands name X.x I need help lol

 

[megumic]

I''m kind of dreading it too, only because instead of changing my name entirely, I''m just adding FI''s last name. So I''ll be first name middle name maiden name married name. No hyphens, no nothing. Is this considered an actual middle name change, since I''ll technically have two??

Dreadingggggg the processssss. Growl.

 

[purselover]

I thought it would be the worst thing ever but I literally spent maybe 5 minutes in the SS office. I still have a few things to change but I'm in no rush since I got my new social security card out of the way.

 

[Laila619]

I too felt overwhelmed (and confused!) about doing it all, but it ended up being pretty easy! The main ones to get changed are social security card and drivers license. Once those are done, everything else just sort of falls into place.

 

[meresal]

Date: 2/8/2010 5:51:50 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 2/8/2010 4:14:38 PM
Author: meresal

Date: 2/8/2010 4:12:01 PM
Author: elrohwen
I freaked out about it for about 4 months after my wedding before finally doing it.

I''ll say doing the ''official'' stuff (SS, DMV) was pretty easy. However, I''ve had 3 phone calls and one office visit with Comcast and my name still isn''t changed

I also had to visit my bank twice and call 3 times (just for one credit card and debit card). It''s definitely been a pain! I still have a few other places that require me to mail something in and I''m procrastinating. And my name still isn''t changed on my insurance card. Sigh. Also haven''t done my passport because I have to mail in my marriage certificate and I really don''t want to.

You''ll get through it though

El, I don''t call Comcast anymore... DH won''t let me. He says it bad for my ''health''

If they make him irritated enough, he actually threatens to put ME on the phone!

We are about to move into a new house, so we let our contract expire and are paying month to month, and when we move, we will just use his name on the contract. LOL! I aviod those freaks like the plague!

DH is horrible about making phone calls for stuff like this, so I won''t put his name on the bill because I know he would never call if we had a problem

I agree, they are awful. Though I thought Cablevision was just as bad when I had them.

LOL! So is mine... literally everything else is in my name. Electricity, cell phone, etc. (I actually pay the bills monthly and then send him Excel invoices quarterly for his half) I am just better about getting to the point than he is with customer service, HOWEVER, when it comes to cable, he will never let anything happen to our cable. If he is going to be in charge of anything, I guess I can trust him with this.

Sorry, tj on hating Comcast over

 

[tlh]

Date: 2/8/2010 3:53:36 PM
Author: elledizzy5
It was seriously not that bad for me. Once I got it changed on my SS and Drivers License, I only had to call my credit cards, insurance, utilities, and then stop in at the bank and it was done. There was no hassle, everyone did it without a problem.

I thought it was going to be the worst thing ever, but it went very quickly and smoothly.

DITTO!

 

[mayachel]

Yup! Which is why I'm not doing it

Have heart, many women (and a few men) have done it, so it must be doable.

 

[inloveinpa]

Thanks for all of your feeback..you are definitely setting my anxiety at ease. I am really excited to be a MRS. but there is just so much paperwork! lol.

As for Comcast...wow I won''t even go there. I hate them!!! Especially Southeastern PA Comcast!!

 

[Liane]

Date: 2/9/2010 10:50:06 AM
Author: mayachel
Yup! Which is why I''m not doing it

Have heart, many women (and a few men) have done it, so it must be doable.

x2.

A day and a half is about 36 more hours than I want to spend on it. Yeah, I''m that lazy.

 

[kittybean]

I wasn''t totally sure about changing my name, but the more I thought about the process, the more I liked my maiden name. At the moment, I still have my maiden name, and although I have some desire to change it, I probably never will. Name inertia is a powerful thing.