SO: Name changing, banks, and checks written to your married name...

I agree with a credit union. They seem to he the most honest

I bank at Bank of America. Between me, my husband and my daughter we have 8 accounts there. I can't remember the last time any of us paid a bank fee.

ETA: I almost forgot to answer the question. All the people that wrote checks to us put both me and my husband name on it. If you get a joint bank account. You shouldn't have any problems.

The fees aren't that bad to load and use the card, considering all the fees the bank was charging, but I agree, that its not a great long term solution.

I will definitely look into a credit union though, for sure.

100% reccomend PNC Virtual Wallet accounts. H and I both have those and now have a joint account. Each account has a spend(checking), reserve(secondary checking), and growth(savings) sub accounts. No minimums on direct deposit amounts, no minimum balance, no atm fees. They're amazing. Even H who for a time overdrafted a lot, they give you 24 hours to rectify it.

With joint accounts through them, we've had no issue depositing or cashing no matter the combination of names. H and I both go by a nickname besides our legal names and I have yet to change my name. Forming a relationship with a teller is really helpful and just in case, we've also given them a faxed copy of our marriage license if our preffered teller isn't there.

My FH and I are the same way we have RushCards and don't really use the bank but we have an account at Americas First Credit Union we use to pay bills out of. Everyone there is so sweet, there's never a long line if there is ever a line. There are hardy any fees except for over drafting maybe but you should check them out they're very friendly but also very professional.

If you are going to use it only and specifically for check ms that you get from the wedding, I recommend waiting until your name is completely changed over, and you get your new license. Otherwise you'll have to go through what I just went through, except double...LOL! The bank will not let you deposit a check for Jane Doe if you are still Jane Smith. So, if you open up a savings account under Jane Smith, your checks are useless anyway until you change your name. So I'd say, skip having to open it up and then wait and change your name again, and just open it up when you're all legally Jane Doe, and you'll just have to go through the one step of opening it! =)

Yes, you should open a savings account. Look for a bank that won't charge you anything to maintain the account (usually requires you to maintain a certain amount in the account). We opened up a joint savings account before I legally changed my name, and deposited all our wedding checks. Some were written just to me or just to him; some were written to "Mr. & Mrs. Last name" (no first name!), some were written to both of us, full names. The bank was very accommodating; we just brought a copy of our marriage license and we were able to deposit all the checks with no issue. It was also easy to change my name on the account when I changed my name. BTW, I bank with BB&T.

Hi Yasmina,

I work for a credit union and we try to have the community to do their banking with us. People do not understand how much money is thrown away in fees by using check cashing instead of a credit union (or bank if you know how to manage your account and meet balance requirements). Look into credit unions around your area and let them serve you.

Now, on the matter of checks payable to both you and your husband, some credit unions might not accept a double endorsed check. I recommend that you open the account jointly with your husband to be and once you get married and change your last name (if you are going to take on your FH name) on your ID... take it to your credit union or bank, alongside your marriage license, and have the name changed there as well. This will save you a lot of time and headaches.

DH and I went and got a joint account the Monday after we were married and I checked with the bank to make sure we wouldn't have any issues cashing checks. they said it wouldn't be a problem and that once I have my info to change my name (new driver's license and marriage license) it would be easy to fix. So far any money we've put into the account hasn't been an issue. I put a recent check in our acct through ATM machine with no issues. But I'll be going this Friday to get my last name fixed on the account. hope that helps