This is one of those instances where I am writing the blog post I wish I read. I got married in December and took on my husband’s name. In fact getting his name was one of the main reasons we got married. One day when we have children, I’d like for us to all share the same name. Also I was sick and tired of having a name that people would butcher on the daily. So goodbye Miss Zheleva, hello Mrs Crawford (aka something people can pronounce).
Getting the actual name changed was easy enough. You basically just say you take your husband’s surname and that’s that. You don’t have to, of course. You can keep your maiden name or you can double-barrel. But if you choose to take on your husband’s surname, well, you just take it.
You don’t fill in a separate form, you don’t sign anything other than the marriage certificate and just like that you are now with a new surname.
That’s the easy part. The tricky part is notifying everybody else that your name has changed. Here’s a list of all the institutions I had to notify. Feel free to copy this list and use it for when you’re updating your name:
Passport - Technically you can keep your passport showing your maiden name for as long as the passport is valid, you just have to remember to put the ‘old’ name when booking travel so that the names match. I have a trip to Japan booked that was booked using my maiden name so I will get my passport updated after.
Banks - This will vary depending on the bank. Mozno and Starling for example, asked me to send them a photo of my marriage certificate, Lloyds asked me to bring the certificate in branch so that they can take a certified copy and other banks didn’t need proof of marriage, they just updated my name.
Work - Tell your HR department. For me, I was sent a link to HMRC where I had to log in and updated the name against my NI number. Once that was confirmed the workplace updated my work record to show my new name.
DVLA - You have to get a form printed and filled in, you send them your old driver’s license and the marriage certificate and they send you back both a few days later with the new driver’s licence showing your new name.
Council - You have to update both your voter registration record and council tax bill.
Utilities - The process will vary from one provider to the next but for the most part they didn’t need proof, I just dropped them an email and that was enough.
Pension - Even if your pension is through work, you’ll have to update this yourself. Don’t forget to notify pension providers from previous jobs as well.
Surgery and Dentist - Bot these asked for a copy of the marriage certificate but I guess it will depend from one surgery to the next.
Gym - Easy enough, you can just log in and do it yourself.
Social media - I mean, nothing is official until you put it on social media, right? Changing your name is easy enough but you may struggle to update your handle. I was lucky enough that mine were available.
Mortgage/Letting agents - These may ask for proof of marriage.
Will providers - This is an important one if you have a will don’t forget to get it updated!
Student Loan - No need to show proof of marriage.
Blood UK - I am a blood donor so I had to notify these guys as well.
So there you have it, a list of all the places where I had to update my new name. Trust me, getting all these boxes ticked is a right pain in the back side, but if you mobilise yourself, it will take you no longer than a few weeks. Hope this is of use to you, God knows I wish I had that list when I started!
