Name change process

I know from other women the SS card takes the longest. I think some states allow AAA to do name changes for lisences or will do it online and mail you the sticker or new card.
Once it's on your SS you can do bank and credit cards.
Passport always takes a long time but if yours isn't expired at the time of the name change I think it's a little easier.

Hi! I live in NJ too.

For social security office, I was in and out in 25 mins (and 20 mins of that was just waiting... the actual process took 5 mins). Super quick and easy. You could definitely do that during lunch break. They told me it would take up to 2 weeks to receive my card in the mail, so I was expecting it to take a full 2 weeks, but my new card arrived 3 days later! I was very pleasantly surprised.

License of course takes infinitely longer and was an absolute royal pain. I was there almost 2 hours and it was awful, but what do you expect from the DMV? -.- The one by my office had late hours on Tuesdays so I went after work at 5:30 and barely got my license by the time they closed at 7:30. Total pain, but at least it's done now! I also was under the impression you needed your new social security card in order to get your license, but when I went to the DMV all they asked for was my current license and my marriage certificate. I told them I had my new social security card, and they didn't care. If I were you though I'd still just do social security card first just in case... social security card was reeeally simple.

Haven't done my passport yet, I'm procrastinating that one a bit lol.

I have a Discover card and I sent them one of those "secure messages" through the website and they replied and instantly just sent me a new credit card with my new name on it, no documentation was even needed. I also have a bank account and credit card at Bank of America though and I believe I'll need to actually go into the bank to get those changed... which I also haven't done yet.

Insurance is another big thing. I get insurance through my company though and my insurance said that once I submitted my name change through my company, my company would process the insurance change for me... haven't received an update on that yet.

I'd just recommend also making a copy of your marriage certificate and keeping it in your purse at all times, until you're confident that you've switched EVERYTHING over. That way in case there are discrepancies (i.e. you changed your license but not your Marriott Rewards account, which happened to me this past weekend and my ID didn't match my hotel reservation) you can show them your marriage license to prove that you're the same person.

For me the ss office was a nightmare. About a 2 1/2 hour wait packed into a small waiting area with too many people and not enough chairs, screaming kids and hot sweaty smelly people. That's what I had expected from talking to others in my area that had been there before. So I would suggest asking friends and co-workers in your area what to expect. The DMV was the normal yearly hassle. The bank and everything else was really easy.

SS and DMV weren't too bad for me. My work hours coincide with their regular operating hours too so it took a little adjusting to get there. I think it took me a few weeks to get those documents squared away, and most everything else goes smoothly from there (at least in my experience).

Honestly the most difficult thing to get updated has been things like Paypal and my student loans. I got married last September and those are the last things for me to get done. Those things I've had to do through secure messaging systems and it seems like it takes awhile just to process and then it gets returned to me. Then I forget about it for a few more months.