Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Marriage-Name change

Hello,

Quickly...I married 11 years ago. I did not file any legal

form requesting my name be changed, other then going to

DMV and having my name change to read my married name.

Because I never filed a document with the courts, can I

just go to DMV and re-do my driver's license? I'm not

filing for divorce or anything like that. Call it voodoo

or whatever, but I've not had real good luck with my

married name and things seemed in sync when I had my

maiden name.

Thanks,

--name removed--


Asked on 2/02/04, 12:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Marriage-Name change

No, you cannot just go to the DMV and "re-do" your driver's license to effect a legal name change. Your marriage was, for better or worse, among other things, a legal transaction with legal consequences, which conferred upon you a new name, which cannot now be changed merely by reapplying for a new driver's license with your proposed name change.

However, you can now change it by filing the appropriate papers in the circuit court of the area in which you currently reside. If you go to the clerk's office(civil division) of this court, you will be able to pickup a packet of papers with

instrctions on how to do a name change on your own without the aid of an attorney.

Read more
Answered on 2/02/04, 2:50 pm


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