1) Get two certified copies of my marriage certificate.
2) Change Driver's License.
3) Change Social Security.
I'm going to share my experiences with you all but please know that this was only my personal experience in the State of Texas. While I work in the big city of Dallas, I opted to go back near our home, in a smaller town and much smaller county, to avoid lines (which I highly recommend). In total, with all transit times, it took me 3 hours to complete all of my tasks, plus I stopped at home to fill and print out my passport info and get pictures taken at my local Walgreens.
The certified copies of the marriage certificate were super easy, I just went to the county clerk's office in the the same county which we received our certificate. Fifteen minutes, and $14 later, I had my two certified copies.
The driver's license office is where my dreams of becoming Mrs. de Torres were crushed. Because "de" is not legally a part of either of our names, it cannot be added. So this brought me to option number two, my original plan:
First Middle Maiden Last
With my maiden becoming a second middle name. Perfect, right? Not so much. In the State of Texas you can only have one middle name and hyphenate your last name on your driver's license. I'm not one for hyphens (personal preference), so out my lovely middle name went and my driver's license now reads:
Last, First Maiden
For those of you in Texas, all I needed when I went to change my license was my previous license and either the original or certified copy of the marriage license. They gave me a small sheet of paper to fill out when I got there, so I really didn't need to fill anything else out prior. It cost $10 for me to change my name.
Next, I was off to Greenville, Texas, about 30 minutes outside of where we live, to go to the Social Security office. After picking up my ticket and finding a seat, it took about 35 minutes before I was called up to change my name. I asked her what my options were, just in case I might still be able to pull off my "de Hydrangea" idea, but she said no. At first, she told me that I couldn't even have two middle names. However, my nephew has two middle names so I knew it had to be possible and she said she'd try. About two minutes later, my paperwork was printed out and two middle names it was!
I had filled out the paperwork prior to visiting the SS office, however, it wasn't necessary. She simply asked to see my driver's license and my marriage certificate (I showed her the original). She asked me a few personal questions to verify everything and that was it. In five minutes, my legal name was changed and I was headed out the door.
Since I completed everything so fast, I decided to head home and work on my passport. Since we just used all of our vacation days for the wedding, I figured there will be no major traveling for a while. All I did was go here and fill out the application using their wizard. Since I already had a passport, all I have to do is send in my current passport, this application, two passport photos of myself and $75.
Voila! Legally I'm Mrs. Hydrangea! Now it's on to changing the rest of my documents :)
I know that it was pretty difficult for me to find cut and dry instructions on how to go about changing your name. Do any of you have some good resources for how to go about changing your name in your state?
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