One of the final decisions you will make from your wedding will be your new name. There is surprisingly little information available, and what you can trawl through on the internet is not always relevant or consistent. It can be difficult to know how to approach this daunting task and to understand the procedures various companies have around name changes. Rest assured there is a simple way to approach your upcoming name change.
Before you head off to get married let your boss know of your new name in advance. They can order new business cards and set any accounts or programs in your new name while you are on leave so it’s ready to go upon your return.
Once you are married you will be issued with a marriage certificate. The certificate issued on the day of your wedding is missing certain security features that banks and the passport office require to authorise your name change. You will need to apply for your full marriage certificate from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the state where you were married. Once you have this certificate virtually every Australian company will accept this as evidence of your new name.
Next you should make a full list of all the companies where you have an membership or account We’ve provided a detailed list to help get you started with this:
Medicare Health insurance (don’t forget to add your partner to your policy!) Passport office Motor Vehicle Agency (Drivers Licence & car registration) Utilities (gas, electricity, water) Communications (home phone, mobile, internet, cable TV) Bank (savings, mortgage) Other financial institutions (credit cards, store cards, student loans, leasing companies) Insurance (home, vehicle, income protection, Life. Change your beneficiary if relevant) Electoral Roll Organ donor Sports clubs Professional memberships Superannuation Alumni associations Online accounts – ebay, paypal, facebook, myspace Property titles Loyalty clubs (frequent flyers, hotel rewards, shopping rewards) Road toll accounts Landlord Voicemail
Other companies, such as gyms, health care providers and video memberships tend to have decentralised databases and can simply be updated next time you visit. IN some cases it may not matter if you update your name at all.
If you are flying anywhere after your wedding be careful what name you book tickets under. Unless you plan to travel at least 2 months after your wedding and you trust yourself to be very organised in updating your identification you are best to book any plane tickets under your current name. In the case of international travel, passports can take up to 6 weeks to be changed. Domestic flights only require government issue photo ID such as a drivers licence, however it still may take you a few weeks to get down to the motor vehicle office to have your licence updated. Airlines can change the name on a plane ticket if booked in error but it can be a bureaucratic inconvenience with you needing to send in your plane tickets to be reissued, along with a letter and a copy of your marriage certificate and can take a few weeks. Play it safe and just book tickets under your current name.
Each company has the right to set their own name change requirement and procedures. You should contact each company to ask what their requirements are, ask their mailing address, supporting document requirements and if the documents need to be certified. You will most often be asked to put your name change request in writing. As the average bride has around 20 companies to contact this will take over half a day to organise. Easy Name Change is a great resource for knowing what to send, where to send your information and what documents to send. For more information check out www.easynamechange.com.au
Easy Name Change also has heaps of other useful information on name change, including your married name options, how to get documents certified, keeping your maiden name at work and husband’s rights for name change.
Easy Name Change was created by Genevieve Dennis, who after spending several weekends going through her own name change process decided to help other new brides through the task by creating a selection of step by step name change kits to suit any budget. The service also helps those who are changing their name after seperation, divorce or simply for those who are changing their names legally for personal reasons. Genevieve Dennis has been heard on Melbourne’s ABC News Radio & has been covered in Melbourne’s Herald Sun Newspaper reporting on marriage name change trends.
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