Name Change

Hi,

Kelly and myself are due to get married on 07/07/07 in Zionsville, Indiana. After which Kelly will be moving back to Nantwich, Cheshire where we are buying our first house together!

On the phone last night, we were chatting about how we go about changing her surname after we are married. Would appreciate your advice!
- As we are moving straight to the UK, how do we go about getting her USA drivers license, social security card and passport updated? Do we have to send them back to the US in a particular order? Can she (advisable?) get these documents changed before she comes over (in advance of the wedding)?
- I gather she can drive over here with her US drivers license for up to a year. She has already started having lessons in the UK (when she is over every 2 months or so) so that she can get use to a manual car! (Her heart is set on a Toyota Aygo!) As soon as she has moved over permanently we will send off for her UK provisional license. I guess by showing her passport and marriage certificate this can be obtained with her new married name.

Thanks,
James

I changed mine in stages. I started off with bank, council tax, work documents, etc. over here (UK) by showing passport and marriage certificate. Then I did a few things in the US whenever I was visiting. You have to do your social security before you do your driving license (at least in California). I did my UK license in my married name - again with my passport and marriage certificate. Then I finally got around to doing my passport (you don't have to send it to the US - you can do it via the Embassy in London). No need to do it all at once - you just need to be willing to drag your marriage certificate around with you. 

You cannot change your SS card or license before the wedding, as they will need to see your marriage certificate (not the license) to make the change. What I did is spend a week in the states after the wedding (my husband had to go back for work) changing my name at these various places. If your fiance does decide to do this, just make sure you know how quickly you can get the marriage certificate, as sometimes this can take a few weeks by mail. I went in person to file my marriage license, so I got the certificate back right away.

Different states vary on whether you change your SS card before or after your license. In my state I couldn't go to the DMV without changing my SS card first. Just check out what the rules are for Indiana.

I have NO idea about how to change your SS card from the UK, but I think it can be done at the Embassy. And at least where I am from, it would not be possible to get a US license through the mail any longer, so that would have to be done in person in the US.