I want to legally change my name...

[WillParkinson]

Any thoughts, suggestions or insights on how to get this done?

After our wedding in April I decided that I wanted to legally take Paul's last name in life as well as on DU. I've had several people tell me to contact a lawyer, but wanted to get opinions from my DU Peeps! (Not the marshmallow ones either.)

Thanks!

[mockmonkey]

1. You don't need a lawyer

My partner changed his. It was pretty simple. It didn't cost that much.

http://www.wicourts.gov/services/public/selfhelp/faqsname.htm

[pitohui]

2. you don't need a lawyer to change your last name by reason of marriage

find a wedding/marriage site that deals with your state and just jump through the hoops

i see no advantage and much harm to changing my name as a married adult but obv. people's opinions differ on that matter and a lot of it is just going thru the hoops of notifying social security administration, notifying your boss/human resources, notifying your bank and other financial accounts, getting a new passport with your new name, a new driver's license and so on...really it is going to run you several hundred dollars to change all of these documents so be sure it's really worth it to you

it cost me nothing to keep my own name, and all i need is a sense of humor when some people/businesses refer to me by my husband's last name

however my sister made a different decision so again, if it's worth the money to you, considering that millions of people have already done it before, it just can't be that hard, it simply costs money...

i'm not aware of anyone who used a lawyer to change their name by reason of marriage, going around with copies of your marriage cert should be enough...

[Gormy Cuss]

3. You need counsel from someone who understands the law in your state.

In some states simply signing your marriage certificate with the new name constitutes enough to change it legally (I know, it's too late for you to do that) but you still then have an obligation to notify Social Security, DMV, etc.

Here's a place to start reading up on it:
http://www.ehow.com/change-name-to-married-name/

[dawg]

4. As others have said, it depends on your state.

But I think that's a sweet thing to do.