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Unless you have extensive forms to fill out, I can tell you from the experience I had from buying into one of these programs that it's not necessary. I had the whole packet ready, and it turns out that the forms aren't the hard part, and most companies just want a copy (not an original) of your marriage license.
Everything hinges on your social security card being changed - trust me, there is NO easy system for that, and then, everything else falls into place.
I purchased this service. I DO NOT recommend it. They don't do everything for you! I swear it actually took me LONGER to use it than if I had done it on my own. If you have a good checklist for everything you need to change your name, then it works WAY better. The way that site works is to insert your information into pre-formatted letters and forms that you MAIL to everyone. That's why you have to pay for extra copies of your marriage certificate, it's assuming that you are mailing your ORIGINAL (because you have to) to the SS office, the DMV, etc. I trust the postal system, but not THAT much! I ended up walking in to most of the places anyway and they didn't need any of the forms I printed out! I was ticked. Plus there's no info on changing your car registration. AND because I'm military, it was a pain in the butt to try to trick the system into giving me the forms I need! (I.e. a Colorado voter registration form even though I live in California, etc.) I say boo to MissNowMisses.com!!
Thanks for the heads up ladies!!! I guess I wont be using it in the near future!
Oh goodness, all of this just made me a little nervous about the whole name change thing! It's really not that bad, right? 
Ugh,,, I'm totally looking forward to changing my name, but I'm completely dreading the paperwork part. Also, I have a whole bunch of international travel for work planned for shortly after my wedding, so I'm going to need to get my new passport quickly! ...or put off the official name change until later in the fall. So complicated!
@Mighty thanks for the heads up! darn, I was excited about misstomrs when I heard about it awhile back :(
what all should be on a checklist to get changed? I am so dreading this! haha
you dont need this service. since we are actually already married (courthouse ceremony with our big one planned for june) i've already changed my name. i went to the social security office first. i actually sat in the waiting area longer than what it actually took to take care of the paperwork there. when we finished i looked at the lady and said, "thats it?" lol. as far as that website offering copies of your marriage cert for 4.95....i drove the 5 min to the courthouse and it only cost me $3 per copy. the dmv was very easy too. they only needed to see my marriage certificate. they didn't need to keep it. i paid $20 and got a new license. easy peasy! my advice...dont stress about the name change.....you dont even have to get it all done asap. i actually took my time with it. i did the important ones first and went from there. when it came to changing my car registration i waited until it was due for renewal simply because i didn't want to pay more than i had to. i just kept a copy of my marriage cert. with my registration in my car just in case i got stopped. the bank was another easy one too! i also sat in the waiting area longer than it took to actually get my name changed. dont worry bees. its not as stressful as you may think. i agree with mightysapphire. as long as you have a list of what you need to do....you'll be fine. :)
oh by the way...the knot.com has a name change kit for $30....dont waste your money. i bought and didn't use any of it.
@guffee...thanks, that was helpful! do you have a list of all the places you had to go to to change your name? I think I need that!
I also found this one...
Changing your name is really not a bad process, it just takes a while to get it all done. The problem isn't filling out forms (which most of those companies offer to do for you) but sitting in line at the SSA, DMV, banks, etc.
Honestly, you just need a few copies of your marriage certificate, and some free time. Don't bother with these services. If you're planning on doing anything tricky with your name (ie. I added a 2nd last name, no hyphen), make sure you're ready to explain exactly how it should appear on your new ID, credit cards and everything else.
Do the social security card first, and everyone after that will just want to see your card and marriage certificate. The hard part is getting used to using the right name!
Absolutely the worst part of changing your name is waiting in line at the social security office and the DMV. It takes forever to wait and I find those places so stressful in general. Otherwise, it is pretty straightforward and simple.
I had my last name changed a little over a year ago (to my step-father's last name, which will now become my maiden name.) and it was VERY simple. I didn't even have trouble with the SS card part, although I put it off for a while, I drove to the SS administration locally first thing on a Monday morning, and even though they opened the doors 10 minutes late, and their computers were down, they managed to get me in and out of there in about 20 minutes, and I was probably 10-15 people back in the line.
Not sure how it's different for marriage, though - It was very easy for a court-issued name change, however.
@sulli301 i went to the social security office first then the dmv. after that i went through my bills and made a list of all of those things that needed to be changed. i.e. car insurance, power, cable, bank accounts, if i forgot anything at first, eventually i ended up getting something in the mail with my maiden name on it. when that happened i just added it to my list. easy peasy! :)
oh...as far as name change kits go.....in my opinion...you dont need them. if i was unsure about what i needed to do to change my name on anything i just asked what i needed to do at the bank or any of the other places. the social security website will tell you everything you need to change that. the same goes for your dmv's website. in my opinion just save your money when it comes to name change kits. all the information you need on changing your name is free so why should you pay for it? as far as websites and kits that give you forms...again why pay for them when you can get them for free?
I purchased this service and feel like I wasted my money. The DMV form wasn't even available for me online, so I still had to fill that out by hand. Now if this service could have kept me from not having to wait in all the lines to change my name THEN it would have been worth it!
I agree they aren't really necessary. I live in NYC, and even here it wasn't THAT bad. Just had to wait in lines.
I do have some advice though:
Make sure you sign your marriage certificate EXACTLY how you want your name to show up on your Social Security card (because what you put on social security is what goes on all the other cards)
I didn't know this, so I just signed my name as FirstName NewLastName since that's always how I signed my name (FirstName LastName). Well, when I got to the social secuirty office, they told me I couldn't have Firstname MiddleName NewLastName on my new SScard because I didn't sign my name like that on my license. So now I kind of don't legally have a middle name... Oh well. Luckily I never really liked my middle name, but it was still a part of me and I didn't really want to drop it...
@JoesWifey: That's odd. It shouldn't matter how you SIGN your name, only how it is typed out on your marriage certificate. Many illiterate people simply sign an "x" or a scribble, so your SS office person was actually very wrong.
For others, a list of what I can think of (in order!) when changing your name:
PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION & TAXES:
Social Security Card (MCR)
IRS Change of Address/Name Form (NMCR)
USPS Change of Address Form (NMCR)
Voter Registration Form (Depends on area, but generally CMCR, CIDR)
Driver's License (MCR) (Do your makeup, they'll take a new pic!!)
Passport DS82 Form (MCR, BCR, 2 GIDR)
NOTIFICATIONS:
DMV: Vehicle registrations, vehicle titles (MCR)
Bank: Checking, Savings, Credit Cards, IRAs, CDs, etc (MCR)
Credit Cards (CMCR)
Loans: Mortgage, Student loans, Car loans (CMCR)
Utilities: Cable, internet, telephone, gas, electric, water, trash (CMCR)
Medical: ALL doctors (CMCR)
Insurance: Car, Home, Renters, Medical (CMCR)
Professional License: (CMCR, but depends on license)
Investments: Roth IRAs, Stocks, Bonds (CMCR)
Online: PayPal (CMCR!!), Ebay, Etsy, Amazon, Target, Walmart, all the stores you shop at! The don't require a marriage cert, but you don't really think about it until you login to everything and they try to ship it to your maiden name and the post office returns to sender!!
Legend:
MCR: ACTUAL Marriage Cert Required
NMCR: NO Marriage Cert Required
CMCR: PHOTOCOPY of Marriage Cert Required
GIDR: ACTUAL Government Issued ID Required
CIDR: COPY of Government Issued ID Required
Hope that helps some of you ladies! I only used ONE marriage cert, I never needed any certified copies. I did need A LOT of photocopies though!
Indiana does it odd maybe. I never got a copy of the actual certificate maybe?. It was a copy of the license or whatever (so it had my maiden name) with a record and seal that says it was filed at the county office on such date and by so and so, so the only real documention that I was taking my husband's last name was how I signed it.
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http://www.missnowmrs.com
I heard about this website on the radio yesterday and I thought it might be helpful to some people on the hive! You pay $30 and they do all of the name changing stuff for you! All you have to do is answer a series of questions. You can also obtain copies of your marriage certificate through them for just $4.95 instead of going down to your local courthouse. I will definitely be using this when the time comes!!