Question about changing surname in Texas after marriage?

Question

Hi,
I recently married my long-time boyfriend of ten years (we are a same sex couple). So recent that we haven't received the license back in the mail from Austin yet. Research online hasn't been much help. It seems in some states, you decide at the moment you acquire the license whether or not one of the parties will be adopting the others surname. Apparently not so in Texas; our license says our birth names. The county clerk said I would need to take the license to the DPS office after receiving it back from Austin.

So
How does this work? Do I just go to the DPS with my drivers license and marriage license and say "That's my birth name on the license, but I want to take my husbands last name"?

To make it more confusing, I'm unclear on what limits I have. For anonymity purposes, let's say my name is John William Smith, and my husbands name is Bill Jones. Will they allow me to drop my middle name and adopt "John Smith Jones" (no hyphenation; I just want to replace my middle name with my birth surname)? Or will I have to do "John William Jones"?

Sorry for this being so confusing. But changing my surname is important to us (we adopted his niece together some time ago and I'd like to share their surname while, if possible, keeping my birth name in the middle and just dropping my current middle name.

Hope someone can help. Thank you!

Answer 1

No, you don't change anything at the time you get the license or notify them.

As a woman, the certified/ filed copy that is MAILED BACK to you (after it is legally recorded) is proof that the marriage in fact, happened. It has the signature of the officiant.

The cert is then taken to the appropriate office(s) where you inform them that you are changing your surname to your new married name, and tell them what that name is. Drivers license first, then social security, then anywhere else that may have legal record of your prior name.

The cert IS PROOF of the marriage and you ARE ENTITLED to change to your spouse's name. At this point, I prefer spouse instead long drawn out "but...which one is the husband or wife". You are changing to a MARRIED name, and have the legal proof. Yeah. Be prepared for confused looks.. it is Texas. It should be no more involved than a woman who assumes a married surname at marriage.

Best wishes.

Answer 2

Many couples don't have the same name. Many women have been keeping their own last name for generations. Have you really never heard of this? If you want to learn about the PROCESS, then why are you asking here, rather than going to the Social Security website? No, it's not BEFORE, but AFTER you are wed to each other that one's name changes. If at all. Why do you want to change your name at all? It hasn't been considered essential to marriage for a long time now.

Answer 3

For most purposes, you can change your name at will, as long as you do not use it for fraud.

Report the change to the DMV [or whatever Texas calls it], Social Security, Bank, or anybody else who needs to know. That's it.

I added a middle name at some point after my birth, and somehow Social Security found out; I don't even recall telling them.

You might need a court order to get your new name on your Passport. That is not a very big deal either.

Answer 4

When a man & woman marry the wife normally just changes her last name to her husbands. So you would become John William Jones. Or you can hypen using Smith-Jones.

Answer 5

You can change or not, the license states your birth names in all cases, it never serves to act as a change of name.