Just Another Way Our Government Makes Life Easy for You

So I have to change my name since I got married. I had to wait for my certified marriage license to come in the mail before I could do anything, and that took a week. Then I had to go to the social security office to apply for a new social security card, but I could not put my middle name on it because it would knock my new last name off line one and the clerk did not know if it would print two lines and apparently there was no one in the world to ask because I asked her if she could check on it but gravity was keeping her in her chair. She told me it would be 1-2 weeks before I would receive my new card in the mail.

Then I went to the post office to apply for a new passport. I had to fill out the form and have my photo taken, which was fine because my first passport photo sucked bigtime, and then I had to pay about $100 to get everything processed. I will have to wait 4-6 weeks for that to arrive.

So I went to the BMV website to see what I needed to change my name on my driver's license, and after clicking through a hundred screens - because the answer you need promises to be on the next page - it seemed I needed to get a new driver's license within 30 days of the name-change event, i.e. wedding, and I need to bring a social security card and passport. Hmm, my math skills have always been fuzzy, but I don't think I'm gonna get that passport in time.

So I called the BMV to find out about this and was told I can bring my birth certificate (which proves I exist on this planet), my social security card application receipt (which proves I have applied to change my name), my marriage license (which proves there was an event), my most recent pay stub (which proves I have an address), AND a utility bill (which verifies the address). And I will get to wait in line and then it will be mailed to me! NEAT!

So in a few months I should be able to prove I got married.