The great last name debate: should I change it when I get married? Opinions solicited and welcome

There's no "official legal name repository" or process or ceremony for changing names where you have to make it official. It's just that you either update all the crap in the world that has your name attached to it, or you don't. Or you just do some of it.

You can never really get it all, IMO. Think about all the memberships and accounts and random folders your name is attacued to. Are you really going to get on your Netflix or your local library membership or your Cat Famcy subscription and find a way to change your name?

The licenses in my case were professional licenses I had to have for my job (think like a nursing license or realtor license) and it would have cost about $200 and $50 seperately TWICE (because I practiced in two states) to change everything from my name to his name. I have much better ways to spend $500 than by confusing my clients and having to order new business cards and changing my work email and paying to get a new placard for my name on my door.

I've never had difficulty with any of it, except for my dental insurance, oddly, where THEY used my husband's name instead of mine because it's thru his job. The dentist's office can never find my account to begin with. And in that case they just look it up by SSN instead and go about their day.

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