Today I thought that I would put together a blog post about some helpful tips to keep in mind during the name change process! I found that this process was way more overwhelming and stressful than the entire wedding planning process! I asked a good friend of mine, who was just recently married, for some tips she had to include with mine, so here we go!

• The first two things you need to change are your drivers license, and your social security card. You do not have to do these in any particular order. I first thought that you couldn’t change your drivers license without your social security card, but it wasn’t an issue at all. However, you DO need your marriage certificate. Changing these ones first are important because more often than not, you can’t complete any name changes without these documents.
• Keep a folder with ALL of your name change papers! Keep that folder handy and carry it around with you for the first month or so, just in case anything pops up that you weren’t expecting (or remembered) you have everything you need ready to go. Just be careful where you leave it, though, because your social security card and your marriage license are very important and valuable!
• This next tip is great, and from Brittany. (Actually, these last few tips are from Brittany!) It’s something that neither one of us were able to do before we got married, and could have helped save a lot of time! About a month or so before the wedding, make a list of all the places you are getting mail from (bills, magazines, etc) and add those to your checklist of name changes. With that being said – make a checklist of all the places you need to change your name! 🙂 I would also like to add that if its possible, to print off any paperwork that you may need to fill out for your name change to be approved on that same day of making your checklist!
• Make photo copies of your marriage certificate. It’s always nice to have a few copies on hand.
• Be prepared to mail out/fax requests to change your name. We both had to do that for student loan name changes!
• Take a day to do as many name changes as possible, that way you can get them done in big chunks, instead of here and there 🙂

I hope these six tips can help prepare you for the name change process! If you’ve gone through the name change process before, do you have any tips you’d like to add to this list?

Linda Barry Photography

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