The average age of a bride in this generation is somewhere between 27 and 29 years — a large increase than those of the earlier generation. So, while a bride in her early 20s might not be as established, today’s brides enter into marriages well into a career and with a solid history of interaction between institutions and businesses. Consequently, informing all of those institutions and businesses of a name change could be a harrowing task if one does not have the answers to the right questions regarding the name change process.

Here are some of those questions and answers:

When can I change my name?

Most believe that you can change your name before you get married but that is not the case. In fact, you need a marriage certificate before filing for a name change. This official document is obtained from the county or country that you were married in, usually at the clerk’s office.

I have my marriage certificate, can I start my name change now?

Maybe. First a quick question: Have you gone on your honeymoon yet? If not, I’d suggest you wait until you do because you will need your passport for international travel and you probably do not want to be in the middle of a name change application at that time.

If you’ve already returned from your travels and are going to be in one place for a while, it is probably a great time to start your name change.

Ok, I’m ready for my name change. What’s first?

First up is changing your name with the Social Security Administration and then following it up with other governmental agencies:
-Department of Motor Vehicles (Drivers license)
-US Passport Agency (Passport)
-Internal Revenue Service — Although, I’m sure you wouldn’t be sad if they thought you disappeared
-US Postal Service (Mail)
-Voter Registration

That’s it? That seems fairly simple.

Hardly. First of all, keep in mind that each agency will require you to fill out a different form and submit it to different offices. Secondly, What about all the other companies you do business with?

Other?…Companies?

-Do you have a checking account? Savings? Money Market? Are they at same bank?
-How many credit cards do you have? Don’t forget store cards too.
-What about investment accounts? 401k’s? IRA’s?
-What about mortgage and loans? Home? Auto? Business?
-If you own a home and car, you have homeowners and car insurance, don’t you? What about life insurance?
-Don’t forget about all your utilities — electricity, gas, water, etc.
-Then there’s communication and entertainment companies — Internet, Satellite, Cable TV, Telephone, Cellular phone
-Do you subscribe to magazines? You have to change your name with them too.
-How about loyalty programs like airlines, hotels and car rental agencies?
-Are you professionally licensed? You might have to change your name on your license and certifications.

Lastly, don’t forget to let your employer know that you changed your name as well.

Wow. I didn’t think about all of that. That seems like it would take a lot of time and effort.

We’re not going to lie: It does take a lot of time to do it by yourself. This is exactly why we developed our Name Change Express service. It’s true that there are a lot of other name change kits and name change services out there and they do a good job of providing you templates of letters to send to these different places. But here’s the value the Name Change Express provides:

-We save you time – You don’t have to go the Social Security office and spend your time filling the forms there and then waiting in line again. Take the pre-filled form from your personalized guidebook and be out of the SSA office in minutes.

-We save you from the hard work – You don’t have to call each company and find out their name change process. Cut down the hours spent trying to reach customer service to find out how to perform a name change with each and every company because we have already done that for you.

-We save you money – Only Name Change Express goes the extra distance to provide you with instructions and addresses for each and every organization you do business with. Furthermore, if you can not find an organization on our list, submit it to us and we will add within a few business days and notify you so that you may complete your name change process.

Name Change Express sounds like the way to go for brides who are looking to change their name. How do I get started?

Easy. Get started here.