Changing your name?

To make official, legal changes to your name after marriage you’ll need a certified copy of your marriage license. To obtain one or more, contact the clerk’s office where the license was filed for the required procedures. (You’ll either have to make the request in person or submit a written request. A processing fee generally applies.)

The following are the likely places you’ll want/need to make your name change, and instructions on what you’ll need to do.


Social Security Number
To obtain a new card with your new name, you must complete and submit form SS-5, which can be found online (www.ssa.gov/replace_sscard.html) or at your local Social Security Office. Call 1-800-772-1213 for more information or where to locate an office near you. There is no fee for this service. You will also need to show proof of your U.S. citizenship or immigration status and your identity.

Driver’s License
Take your new social security card to a full service RMV branch office along with a completed License and ID Update Form (found online at Mass.gov) and $20.00.

Passport
Traveling with your passport on your honeymoon? If so, the name on your tickets must match the one on your passport. Since you most likely bought the tickets before your wedding, it’s best to wait until after your return to make the change on your passport.
    To make the name change, you must complete the proper amendment form and submit it, along with a certified copy of your marriage license, your previous passport and two photos, to the National Passport Processing, P.O. Box 13290, Philadelphia, PA 19101-3290. Forms are available online at Travel.State.Gov or by calling the public passport agency near you (generally either a post office or courthouse). There is no fee for this service unless you need expedited service ($60.00).

Don’t forget these
• Employer (for payroll purposes)
• Post office
• Credit card companies or any other bills
• Voter registration
• Any legal documents like mortgages, leases, insurance policies, etc.


Same-sex marriages and name changes
A party in a same-sex marriage in MA can legally change his/her surname with the Social Security Administration and on his/her driver’s license. However, according to the Web site for GLAD, the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders organization, “the Passport Agency, citing the federal 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, is refusing to honor the name change on the marriage license and is requiring couples to go through Probate Court to have their names changed.” Information on how to petition for a name change can be found at the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries Web site.