Today I got my new drivers license in the mail. It was so awesome to see my face next to my new last name! What was even better, was DH's excitement about the fact that we now "officially" share a last name.
The name change process turned out to be much easier than I had expected. As soon as I got home from our honeymoon, I got started. I might have lingered, but my HR department needed my new social security card to process my name change within 60 days. Fortunately, the whole process took me only about three weeks. Here's what I did:
1. Certified Copy of Marriage License
First, I had to get a certified copy of our marriage license. Ordinarily, you can get an official copy by personally appearing in the Recorder's Office where you applied for the marriage license. However, we got our marriage license in Placer County because it was much cheaper than getting it in San Francisco ($56 versus $97), we didn't need an appointment in Placer County, and the Office was just off I-80 on the way to Lake Tahoe. So, instead of driving two hours back out to Auburn, we opted to send in a notarized request for a copy of the license. Getting the notary was pretty easy. I just stopped in at a UPS Store at lunch, had them notarize my signature (about $10), and then mailed in the request and a check for $14/copy requested. Although I requested three copies, I really only needed one. I received my certified marriage license in the mail about a week and a half later.
2. Social Security Card
Now, I was ready to change my name with Social Security Administration. I showed up at the San Francisco Social Security building at about 10:00 A.M. on a Friday. I didn't realize that you could make an appointment, but apparently you can. I checked in and was given a number and an approximate wait time of: 45 minutes!! But, after only 10 minutes of waiting, my number was called. I presented my application, my marriage license, and my drivers license. Five minutes later, I was on my way! It really was just that easy. They told me to wait about three days before I went to the DMV. Click here for more information about changing your name with the SSA. I strongly recommend filling out the application before going to Social Security.
3. DMV
I made an appointment with the San Francisco DMV for the following Wednesday morning. Please, oh please, do not try to go to the DMV without an appointment. I showed up at almost my exact appointment time and was ushered to the front of a line of about 25 people. I was in and out of the DMV in about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, those 25 people behind me in line, probably didn't move an inch. I presented my marriage license, filled out the application (which is not available to fill out before hand - boo!), they checked my info with Social Security, I got a new picture, and I was out the door! Phew! They told me it would take 4 to 6 weeks for my license to arrive. It took six days.
4. Bank Accounts, Frequent Flyer Numbers, email accounts, etc.
Changing my email with my friends was actually pretty easy. I just sent out a mass email to everyone and told them to please use my new email using my married name. The annoying part was transferring emails for all the other emails that I get on a daily basis: Banana Republic emails, Travelzoo emails, Groupon, etc. I actually decided that I would just unsubscribe from all of them. Prior to the email change, it wouldn't be uncommon for me to wake up to about 40 marketing emails. Now that I've been an unsubscribing fool, I'm getting around 3 emails each morning. There's not a single email that I miss. Sure, maybe I miss a great sale on housewares from Macys, but do I really need to be tempted to spend money right now? No. No, I don't. I'm still working through the bank accounts, reward programs, investment accounts, etc. But, at least I've got the important stuff done.
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