Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona

Here is my question. My daughter is marrying a member of the armed forces. He has his original birth certificate with his given name at birth. He was adopted when he was 7. and was issued a new birth certificate with his stepdads last name. (He has both birth certificates). They want to get married but they both want to have his original last name that was given to him at birth. Does he have to have his name legally changed back first? Some people change both their names when they get married or change them both to hyphenated names. CAn they just get married and take on his original name. They are planning on getting married in Arizona.


Asked on 5/20/10, 4:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Monica Donaldson Stewart Donaldson Stewart, P.C.

He can take her legal name, or she can take his legal name, but right now, the name on his "new" birth certificate is the legal name. If he wants to go back to his birth name, he needs to file a name change action with the court. It is a pretty straightforward process. If there is not time to get this done before the wedding, they can marry (each keeping his/her current name), and then they can do a "family" name change after they are married to change their names together.

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Answered on 5/25/10, 10:34 am


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