The name game: How to change your name after marriage

When a woman gets married and decides to take her husband's last name, what are the steps to legally change her name? And, what are some options for keeping her maiden name or incorporating it into her new legal name?

Two local experts share their advice on both.

"You need a certified copy of your marriage license," says Drew Blattner, Cape Girardeau County recorder of deeds. "We go ahead and charge upfront for the copy, and when the marriage license comes back, we record it and send the certified copy to the bride."

The bride's next steps are the Social Security office and the license bureau.

"Take the certified copy of the marriage license, along with a government-issued photo ID, to the driver's license bureau and the Social Security office, and get both these documents changed to your new legal name," Blattner says.

Other documents that may need to be changed include passports, banking information and records, and your voter registration card.

"You can go to the post office for your passport, and of course the bank to get all those accounts and documents changed," Blattner says. "Then, (in Cape Girardeau County), come to the county clerk's office in the courthouse annex building (in Jackson) to change your voter ID."

Diane C. Howard, an attorney at The Limbaugh Firm in Cape Girardeau, strongly suggests getting all your legal documents to match up when you get married.

"It's advisable to have your Social Security account match what your legal name is," she says. "That way you can avoid complications when it comes time to draw your Social Security benefits."

What are the options for women who want to keep their maiden name or incorporate it into their married name?

"I see the vast majority do it 'the traditional way,'" says Blattner, referring to women who opt to take their husband's last name and drop their maiden name. "If a woman holds some kind of (professional) position, she might be more apt to hold on to her maiden name," he says.

Howard sees women use their maiden names occasionally, but the most common trend still seems to be taking their husband's last name.

"I'm not seeing much of the hyphenated maiden name/married name anymore," she says. "That was a bigger trend years ago. I still see quite a few who take their maiden name as their middle name, which is what I did. But the prevailing trend still seems to be the conservative philosophy of taking your husband's last name."