Maiden Name Change after Marriage – Here is What You Must Know

He asks ‘Will you marry me’ and you say ‘yes’. And now, you have a big question to deal with – whether to change your maiden name after marriage or not. Your personal identity, family history and emotions are connected to your name. And if you decide for maiden name change, it can trigger emotional, professional or even political consequences.

Every person you will meet will have different opinion about maiden name change after marriage. But their opinions shouldn’t be of matter. Being an adult individual, it is you only who get to decide if you shoul d change your birth name or not. If you don’t want to change it after marriage, it’s your right. And you can also choose your husband’s last name. In short, the decision is completely yours.

Many newlywed brides find it difficult to decide. If you are one of them, below are some important things you must know before making your decision.

You have more options than you know

You probably think that you got only two options: either to accept your husband’s last name as yours or continue using your birth name even after marriage. But the great news is that you have some other alternatives too. Wondering what are they?

Here are all your options:

• Legally accept your spouse’s last name as yours

• Keep your birth name

• Let your spouse take your last name

• You can keep your birth name as middle name and accept your spouse’s surname as your surname

• You and your husband can have a hyphenated surname created from your last names

• You can have a whole new married name

How does it sound?

Well, you may find this a bit weird but everyone wants a cool surname. And if yours isn’t cool and luckily if your husband’s surname sounds much better, changing your maiden name sounds a good idea. However, if things are other way round, you may either continue with the birth name or choose from some other alternatives like a hyphenated name or a new name. Whatever option allures you most, it is a good idea to discuss it with your partner.

When name matters a lot in your profession

There are certain professions like medicine, real estate, lawyer and author where your name has a lot of importance. You have a huge work record on your name and your professional identity is strongly associated with it. It is very important to consider the consequences in your profession or career.

However, this doesn’t mean you should not change your name at all after marriage. If you want to, there are certain ways you can make this name change transformation as smooth as possible. For example, you can retail the maiden name as a middle name and accept your husband’s surname as yours.

Be Practical

Let’s be honest. After marriage isn’t about showing how much you love your spouse. But it’s a practical decision. A family having a same last name will be identified as a unit. You will not wish to have different last name then your kids.

When you go on international or domestic trips with family, you certainly wish to have same surname in your passports. About 88% of women who get married every year in the United States decide to change their name after marriage and it’s easy to see why.

Make yourself acquainted with the process

Before you take your decision, it is important to get yourself familiar about the married name change procedure and rules in your state. Remember, every state in the country has different set of rules. The process isn’t that difficult, but it is certainly time confusing.

Once you have your marriage certificate with your new name mentioned into it, you need to update the new married name in other documents like driver license, social security card, passport, bank account, credit cards, insurance policies, subscriptions, etc. If you need some assistance to save your time and efforts, you can hire a good agency.

Hope this information will help you decide if you need maiden name change maiden name change or not.

New Married Name: Some Valuable Insights that Prove Importance of The Process

Marriage means taking up of a new life that changes lot of things from your previous way of living. Lot of new things will come into your life along with having to make some adjustments too. However, these alterations and adjustments are blissful as the new relationship is something that you must have longed for.

Having a new married name is one of the most important things that will be a reality post marriage. At present, this has become a very common practice and every female takes her husband’s name after marriage.

For few, the name change debate may be quite ruthless and at the same time, it may be the perfect solution. Granted, for majority of the women, new married name is a non-issue factor. It has been estimated that nearly 90 percent of the women who are marrying today leave their maiden name and take up their husband’s name.

Source: http://hitchswitcusa.tumblr.com/post/153374454232/new-married-name-some-valuable-insights-that

Legal Name Change and Professional Life – Do It Right!

It may be difficult to determine whether it is a boon or curse, but it’s a fact that it is really difficult to delete your professional or personal past in this era of internet. Your social media profiles and work profiles on sites like LinkedIn will reveal it all about your life so far. However, when you decide for legal name change, probably because of your recent marriage or divorce event, a serious problem awaits you at the very next corner.

Are you wondering what problem I am referring to? Well, it’s a problem of lost identity and being ghost. All your previous work, achievements, certifications, etc. are credited on your earlier name. And now that you have planned to change legally, you will need to build your identity again with the new name.

Why change?

Some studies reveal that women who have long history of professional career or significant career achievements are less likely to prefer after marriage. But a large number of women prefer to legally change their last name when they get married. When about 77% of new brides taken their spouse’s last name after marriage in the year 1990, about 86% women preferred legal name change after marriage in the year 2011.

Meaning, there are more women changing their maiden name after marriage than those who prefer to retain their birth name lifetime. Besides, there is another trend that seems to be growing in popularity in recent years – it’s hyphenating names! If you think why a woman alone has to compromise with her identity when she ties a knot, you can discuss with your partner about hyphenating your last names.

This is surprising but fact that woman who adapts to her husband’s surname after marriage is by default considered more committed and cultured. No matter how powerful you are, if you are a woman then there is no way you can oversight this. Hillary Clinton, who was the first lady of United States from 1993 to 2001, too had to consider carrying her husband’s last name throughout her political career after marriage.

While it makes sense to discuss your decision with your spouse, family and colleagues if you are an employee, at the end you just need to remember it is your own decision. Take your time understanding all consequences.

Rebrand your identity the right way

Indeed it is a big decision when you have well-established professional career. And this is why it is important to do it carefully considering your professional record in mind. Let’s check out a few tips to do your name change the correct way in the work space.

• Update all your professional contacts: It is essential to send an exclusive email, text massage or work note to all your work contacts for the same. Those who are in close contact with you will anyway get to know it sooner or later. But then there are plenty of other professional connections who may never know about your new name unless you tell them.
• Get ready to explain sometimes: If you are a woman, who everyone knew has recently wed, you will face less awkward scenario compared to males who changed their name after marriage or for some other reason. It may seem to you like personal rebranding. You may face some misunderstandings, but you can stay calm and clear it up with a short explanation.
• Make a checklist of your digital accounts or profiles: You may have social media accounts, email accounts, blogs and other digital footprint. Prepare a checklist of all of them one by one. Don’t forget to update your new name on any of the online account or social media account you operate. Some people also prefer to mention their old name in bracket or somewhere in their profile so as to ensure people don’t confuse them as a stranger.

Indeed it is your individual decision, but it has significant implications on your professional career. And hence, it is vital to undergo the legal name change transformation in the most effective manner. Consult a name change agency to get more insight about the detailed procedure.

Walking Down an Aisle? Remember to Change Name to Married Name

Thinking of an upcoming wedding or have you recently walked down an aisle? Indeed it is the most beautiful and most precious event in everyone’s life. You choose someone as your life partner and decide to share all your happiness and sorrows with the one. Most of us leave no stone unturned to make this big day of our life remarkably memorable.

In addition to celebrating the occasion with your closed friends and family, there are many other important aspects of getting married. For instance, you will need to decide if you want to change name to married name. Every year a large number of newlywed brides consider changing their last name to their husband’s last name.

It indeed isn’t easy to change name to married name in the real world. You need to update your new married name on a number of documents such as your social security card, driver’s license, banking accounts, passport, etc. You need to pay visit to many government offices and fill up the relevant forms.

If you are handling the name change process on own, you must be ready to invest a good amount of time and efforts to get the whole job done. Professional name change agencies advise new brides to complete the name change process before they depart for their honeymoon.

Understand the process to change name after marriage

Unless you are hiring a name change agency to do the job, it is vital to understand the married name change process in detail. Every state in the country has its own set of rules and guidelines for legal name change. Thus, you will need to do homework and learn about your state’s laws for married name change.

First, you will need to get your certified marriage license copy from your local court. Once you have a dozen of certified copies of your original marriage certificate, you can prepare a checklist of all the places you need to change your name to married name. Visit the social security card office first, followed by your local DMV office.

When your last name is updated in your social security card and driver’s license, you can use them as your identity proof to change name in Passport, Gas bills, water bills, bank accounts, insurance policies, electricity bills and subscriptions. You may also need to change your postal address at many places.

You can prepare a checklist of all documents or places you need to update your married name in to ensure you don’t skip on any. Also this approach will help you complete name change in priority order. Many couples don’t begin immediately with the name change process and the longer the wait, the more complexities they invite for later.

Hiring a professional name change service

If you are thinking to keep name change on hold due to less availability of time, there is a solution. You can hire a name change agency to help you get through the name change process in hassle-free and cost-effective manner. The agency will get you all the required forms and fill them for you, saving you a great deal of time. You will need to buy one of their name change packages and share essential details at your convenience; rest is handled by the experts.

You can also consult the name change specialists to seek guidance for the correct procedure to be followed. Want to change name to married name? Search the web for a best name change agency.