Changing your name before you get married

I don't know about the problems you may run into, but I know that at least in my area you can both change your name when you get married. So why waste the money changing it now when you can do it for free on your wedding day. You could still ask your officiant to just use the new name during the cermony.

Wait, we could both change our names when we get married ??? I thought only the woman could change her name (or one or the other). How can we both change our name at the same time ?

From what I've read, you just fill in the line on the marriage license where it lists your new name(s). To make sure credit, etc are okay, "take precautions against losing their credit rating...by notifying credit bureaus of the name change and requesting that credit built during years of being single is included under the new name." Obviously also notify your workplace & bank, get a new social security card & driver's license, etc., and everything should be a-okay. Sometimes couples hyphenate their names, so this should be no different

Thanks for the advice. Wow, this could really save me lots of money. Anyone know who I could talk with to make sure this is ok ? Does anyone know anyone who has done this ?

I'm pretty sure what the previous poster said varies state-to-state. you should be able to call your County Clerk/Recorder and ask. you can also look on the County Clerk's website for an answer, they usually have a page that explains the marriage license/name change process.

Ok, thanks will do ! Appreciate everyone's help on this matter.

I recently went through this with my husband. Laws are different in each state so I'll tell you what we did in NJ. In NJ a woman can use a marriage license to change her name, a man can't. He would need to request a name change through the NJ Judiciary system. Its simple but takes a little time. You fill out forms, pay $200, judge will approve the forms. You then run an add in the newspaper stating your new name. The reason for this is so that you don't try to run from old debts. NJ feels that this shows you put forth effort to contact any creditors and didn't try to change your name with ill intentions. Show the proof to the judge, then you recieve your legal name change documents that you can take everywhere you need to change your name; such as SS admin, Passport, Motor vehicle, etc. I see your wedding date has passed but this might help another couple. Don't pay a lawyer they charge over $1,000 and you can do it yourself for $200 plus the ad in paper. Save the $$

I'm really glad to hear we aren't the only people doing this. We placed our ad today and have a court date for May to have the judge approve the change.