Real ID: Married Women Beware!

[BellePrincessBelle]

I brought my birth certificate, marriage license, social security card, insurance card and vehicle registration and that satisfied all the requirements to get my enhanced DL.

 

[Kitty 34]

I wonder if you could still apply for a new passport with no issues.

I'm not really planning any major trips but I was thinking about just trying for the passport again esp since I've already had one and nothing has changed except for my age.

 

[mnrose]

I've never understood why anyone cares what a woman decides to do with her last name upon marriage. Take your husbands. Keep yours. Whatever works for YOU, and it's no one else's damn business. For me, for professional reasons, it was easiest to keep my name. My children have their father's name. I've never, not once, had to "explain" that to anyone. A few of my kids' friends call me Mrs. (Husband's Last Name), and I don't even bother correcting them. It's whatever. If anything, I'll say "you can call me (my first name)." My husband doesn't care. In fact, he thought it bizarre that I *would* take his name. It's an antiquated custom as far as I'm concerned and as far as he was concerned, but you do you. If you like it, go for it.

 

[MumziMom]

The only important thing is that the name used to reserve air travel really needs to match the name on the ID used. I've heard of things like someone buying airline tickets for a friend, but using a nickname or a maiden name that didn't match the ID.

Yes, you need to be so careful. My daughter goes by her middle name, and and the parents of someone else bought her a plane ticket, for a short flight in a foreign country, and I nicely reminded her to check the name. They needed to change it. I can just imagine her blithely trying to get on a plane in a foreign country with the name on the ticket not matching her passport....

 

[MumziMom]

I've never understood why anyone cares what a woman decides to do with her last name upon marriage. Take your husbands. Keep yours. Whatever works for YOU, and it's no one else's damn business. For me, for professional reasons, it was easiest to keep my name. My children have their father's name. I've never, not once, had to "explain" that to anyone. A few of my kids' friends call me Mrs. (Husband's Last Name), and I don't even bother correcting them. It's whatever. If anything, I'll say "you can call me (my first name)." My husband doesn't care. In fact, he thought it bizarre that I *would* take his name. It's an antiquated custom as far as I'm concerned and as far as he was concerned, but you do you. If you like it, go for it.

Love this, and love your tag: Queen of all she surveys

Fun story on Queen Elizabeth II's name: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a26131813/queen-elizabeth-last-name/

 

[MumziMom]

I'm not really planning any major trips but I was thinking about just trying for the passport again esp since I've already had one and nothing has changed except for my age.

Even if you want to go on a short domestic flight, you will need that passport (as you don't have the Real ID.) So odd that it was easier for me to get my passport than a Real ID! I wonder if it is because for passports, I have no idea what goes on to prove my identity - for the Real ID, there was one person at the AAA (I try to avoid the DMV whenever possible!) They have a checklist to go through and no way to do more digging.

 

[jo-jo]

Even if you want to go on a short domestic flight, you will need that passport (as you don't have the Real ID.) So odd that it was easier for me to get my passport than a Real ID! I wonder if it is because for passports, I have no idea what goes on to prove my identity - for the Real ID, there was one person at the AAA (I try to avoid the DMV whenever possible!) They have a checklist to go through and no way to do more digging.

You got a Real ID at AAA?

 

[MumziMom]

Also, just in case this hasn't been mentioned in this growing thread, some AAA locations will issue a Real ID, so you don't need to go into the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles, in case your state calls it something else.) You may want to check with your AAA. Saved me time and aggravation. Who knows? They may be more reasonable? Some of the posts about marriages in the far past that require documentation now are crazy!!! I think it would be easier to apply for a passport, then use the passport as documentation for the Real ID.

 

[MumziMom]

You got a Real ID at AAA?

Yes - I just posted this above. Totally worth the cost of a AAA membership (if your local AAA offers this). I live in Massachusetts, in case this helps.

 

[DopeyDame]

My legal name is consistent across the board but they wanted my marriage license. Didn’t matter how many forms of legal ID I had.

It was probably because you were using your birth certificate to prove citizenship, so they needed an official documentation to track the name change from your birth name to your current name. If you'd used a passport with your current name to prove citizenship (or, less likely, a CoC or CoN) then you would have been fine.

 

[DisLiss]

In my state the information sent to us specified that you would need your marriage certificate if you had had any legal name changes. So, yes, all women in my state who changed their name upon marriage, will need that, whether their name is consistent across all documents/forms of ID or not.

What gets me is the my current license can be used as proof of my address, but not proof of my name. Go figure.

 

[DopeyDame]

See I don't understand this. For 30 odd years , the goverment has seen you as Kitty 34, SS, IRS, voting, whatever......now suddenly you have to prove that you are you.

The issue isn't proving who you are. The issue is proving your citizenship status. If Kitty34 had brought a passport (which proves she's a citizen) in her current name, they wouldn't need anything.
However... since she brought her birth certificate, they need to somehow prove that the person on the birth certificate is, in fact, the person standing in front of them. For some people, that will be two marriage certificates (First Maiden to First Married then First Married to First Next-Married)

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I haven't read any of the 9 pages on this, but I brought my passport and my most recent W-2 and that was all they needed for the Real ID. I also had other ID in case they wanted it (utility bill, voter card), but they didn't need anything else. It was easy.

 

[msjprincess]

When I go to the DMV website for my state they list what you need for a Real ID.

It says

• If the name on your license, permit, or non-driver ID application does not match the name on your identity, lawful status, and social security proofs you must bring in court or government issued proof(s) documenting the event(s) causing your name change(s) such as a marriage license(s), divorce decree(s), adoption, or court order document(s).

Do some states not list that on their website under needed documents?

 

[bcla]

Yes - I just posted this above. Totally worth the cost of a AAA membership (if your local AAA offers this). I live in Massachusetts, in case this helps.

Depends on the state. In my state our AAA affiliates have California DMV services that are limited to vehicle registration.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Also, just in case this hasn't been mentioned in this growing thread, some AAA locations will issue a Real ID, so you don't need to go into the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles, in case your state calls it something else.) You may want to check with your AAA. Saved me time and aggravation. Who knows? They may be more reasonable? Some of the posts about marriages in the far past that require documentation now are crazy!!! I think it would be easier to apply for a passport, then use the passport as documentation for the Real ID.

I got my real ID at AAA (in MA) last November. The big perk here is the lines were so much shorter than the DMV. They were definitely sticklers about what you needed for documentation, though. I thought I had everything but didn't have my marriage license. The checklist I had printed from the DMV didn't list it and I missed the part on the website where they mention what to do if your current name doesn't match your birth certificate. Luckily, I was able to find mine at home and just went back an hour later. I did see a number of confused people, though. Once I had all my documents, the process was very quick.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

My legal name is consistent across the board but they wanted my marriage license. Didn’t matter how many forms of legal ID I had.

Yep. They want documentation for name changes.

 

[RedAngie]

One minor reason I kept my birth name for my first marriage is that I would have had a somewhat infamous and notorious name if I had taken my husband's surname.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

In my state the information sent to us specified that you would need your marriage certificate if you had had any legal name changes. So, yes, all women in my state who changed their name upon marriage, will need that, whether their name is consistent across all documents/forms of ID or not.

What state are you in?

 

[lifesavacation]

Does this sound right at all? I took dd in to get her enhanced license on Friday. She just turned 16. I could not get it because we didn’t have an address verification in HER name. We moved a month ago and her permit had the old address. Once the standard license comes in, we were told that she could then use that as the address verification. So frustrating that I’ll now have to pay another license fee to get an enhanced licensed for her.