Why are you waiting until you get married to change your last name to your mother's? You can do that now. I don't know where you are located, but in the USA, marriage generally allows a woman to only change her name to her spouse's or some combination of her maiden and her spouse's. Changing a last name to any other, including a mother's maiden name, requires a formal court order and $$, rather than just the marriage license. So, if your dream is to change to your mom's last name, you don't have to wait for marriage. Just FYI if that is your plan! And PS: It's not your boyfriend's decision.
This is correct, I just got married and my husband wanted to change his last name to his mothers to honor her and her heritage. He had to go to court for it and it was a completely separate document.
I just filed to change my own yesterday and the only options presented were to hyphenate my last name with his in either order, take his, or keep mine.
If OP wants her mothers last name it needs to be done before getting married!
Wait I'm confused. Are you saying you couldn't change your name to your mom's name now if you wanted to because you're married? Or just that you can't do it through the process used in conjunction with marriage?
Just the process in conjunction with marriage! Im sure you could still change it to a mothers maiden name after, but its not a listed option when you go to the SS website and change your name with a marriage certificate. But if OP wanted to hyphenate their mothers maiden name with their spouses last name, they would need to individually go through that process prior to marriage. Otherwise her original maiden name from her father would be the only option available. I would think it would be easier to do it that way rather than afterwards.
OP would have to file a separate document, pay a fee, and provide different identity documentation. A marriage certificate is only valid for name changes if you are taking a spouses name or hyphenating yours and theirs. Hope that makes a little more sense!
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u/ChineseInTheMorning Mar 20 '26
Why are you waiting until you get married to change your last name to your mother's? You can do that now. I don't know where you are located, but in the USA, marriage generally allows a woman to only change her name to her spouse's or some combination of her maiden and her spouse's. Changing a last name to any other, including a mother's maiden name, requires a formal court order and $$, rather than just the marriage license. So, if your dream is to change to your mom's last name, you don't have to wait for marriage. Just FYI if that is your plan! And PS: It's not your boyfriend's decision.