Weddingbee boards

I can't speak specifically for VA, but this is how it worked for me in North Carolina a few months ago.  Our marriage lisence has my maiden name on it. I then took that to the Social Security Office and they asked me what I wanted to change my name to (i.e. Maiden name as middle or drop middle all together... etc). That is what set my new name and therefore, I was able to use that (with my marriage lisence) when I changed my drivers lisence. Good luck and congratulations!

We just got married in VA a month ago, and only needed the marriage certificate at the SS office.  Once you have the SS card, you should be all set for everything else.

 This is the form you'll need at the SS office, though they have it there too: http://www.ssa.gov/online/ss-5.html

And those name change services don't do the name changing for you- they merely provide the forms that you need.  Almost all of these name changes require you to either be there in person, or a lot of other personal information/ID that you probably wouldn't want to give to some company!

I know how confusing that Social Security name change can be. Some forms say that you need to have your new name on your marriage license/certificate in order to change your name. I thought that meant that the marriage license had to show my name with both my maiden name and the married name I'd like to have. What it really means is that your marriage license just has to have the name you want to change yours to on it. So as long as your husband's last name is on the cert. and that's what you want to change it to, then you're all set. There is a form that you have to fill out that you can find on the Social Security website. Fill it out ahead of time, then set an appointment at your local social security office (you CAN schedule an appointment even though that isn't stated on their website). Then just take in your form, your marriage cert. and your current social security card and they'll ask you what you want to change your name to and you'll be all set. You'll get your new SS card in the mail within two weeks, and then you can go to the DMV and get you name changed on your driver's license as well as your car registration (might as well get that done since you'll be at the DMV anyways). Again, you'll need to fill out a form, but you'll have to fill it out at the DMV. Hope that helps!