Location: Washington state (not DC) of the USA.
Months ago, I got married. Through the social security office I applied, and was approved, to change my last name to be hyphenated with my spouse’s. On top of that, I also got my middle name’s spelling changed, as my parents were those people that needed to be unique.
Here’s an example not using my real name…
Original name: John Adyme Smith
Updated name: John Adam Smith-Doe
Again I’d like to state that this was fully updated with social security, middle and last, and this is reflected on my ss card.
Today, I finally got to the DOL to update my drivers license and all that with my new name. Gave them my marriage license, ID, social security card and receipt of change. They went through the process and asked me to verify.
“John Adyme Smith-Doe”
I informed them my middle name is also changed, to which they said it wasn’t on my marriage license. I told them that I got that changed with my last name through social security AFTER my marriage, of course it wouldn’t be on my marriage certificate. To look at the ss card and receipt.
The DOL employee told me they only look at the marriage license, they don’t look at my social security (though by that logic, my name wasn’t hyphenated on the cert either, so why change that?) and that “the social security office shouldn’t have done that.”
Now I have my updated ss card as well as my license, the first saying “John Adam Smith-Doe” and the latter saying “John Adyme Smith-Doe” – they do not match, and I’m not sure where to go from here. Social security didn’t require a court order for my middle name, just changed it with my last. How do I fix this?
Comments
Marriage only allows you to change your last name in Washington. Have you filed a Petition for Name Change in your local county’s district court?
From the King County marriage licensing page:
> If you or your new spouse want to change your surname after you’re married, take a certified copy of your marriage certificate to any organization that you need to notify, such as the ones listed below. If you want to change your first or middle name, or create a new last name, check with King County District Court for details on a court-ordered name change.
They are correct, the approved change should have been to what the marriage certificate has.
You need to file a Name change petitions in the county where you reside.
This page suggests the worker you spoke to is confused. Try a different employee, maybe a different office.