Just married in Idaho? Congratulations. Idaho gives newlyweds one of the easiest name changes in the country: your marriage certificate is your legal proof, and no court order is needed. Here is exactly how to do it, in order, with what it costs and how long it takes.

Which Names Can You Take in Idaho?

Start here, because Idaho is refreshingly generous. Your certified marriage certificate is the legal name-change document for a married name, so there is no court order needed. And it covers more than a plain last-name swap: Idaho’s DMV rule lets you take either spouse’s last name, move your maiden name into the middle position, or hyphenate both surnames (one hyphen), all on the marriage certificate. Social Security follows the same logic. The only time you need a district court petition is to change your first name, or to pick a name the marriage cannot support.

Step 1: Get Certified Copies of Your Marriage Certificate

Idaho has a money-saving quirk here. The cheapest source is the county recorder that issued your license: a certified copy of a current marriage is just $2 (for example in Ada, Blaine, Idaho, and Valley counties). Order from that same county, since another county will not hold your record. The alternative is the state Bureau of Vital Records, which charges $16 per copy and has no walk-in counter (order online or by mail only). Grab 2 certified copies, since Social Security and the DMV each want an original. Details: Idaho Vital Records.

Step 2: Update Social Security First

Social Security is free and the same in every state: complete form SS-5, show your certified marriage certificate, and your new card (same number) arrives in about 2 to 3 weeks. Do this first, because the Idaho DMV requires the Social Security update before it will change your license. Details: ssa.gov.

Idaho has only 7 Social Security field offices statewide, the fewest of any state we cover, so the nearest one may be a drive. Plan that trip:

City	Address	ZIP	Phone	Mon-Fri
Boise	1249 S Vinnell Way	83709	(855) 377-9316	9 AM-4 PM
Caldwell	1118 S Kimball Ave	83605	(877) 836-1560	9 AM-4 PM
Coeur D’ Alene	7400 N Mineral Dr	83815	(866) 931-2523	9 AM-4 PM
Idaho Falls	2196 Channing Way	83404	(866) 253-0489	9 AM-4 PM
Lewiston	1617 19th Ave	83501	(877) 405-9796	9 AM-4 PM
Pocatello	861 Jefferson Ave	83201	(866) 643-3407	9 AM-4 PM
Twin Falls	1437 Fillmore St	83301	(866) 748-2087	9 AM-4 PM

Step 3: Change Your Idaho Driver’s License

Step 4: Update Your Vehicle Title and Registration

Own a car? Update the title at your county assessor’s DMV office (or by mail to the Idaho Transportation Department):

Item	Detail
Where	County assessor’s DMV office, or mail to ITD Vehicle Services, PO Box 34, Boise, ID 83707
Forms	Duplicate Idaho Title Application (ITD 3367) plus a “One and the Same Statement” (ITD 3125) noting the marriage name change
Bring	Current title info, driver’s license, and certified marriage certificate
Fee	$14 replacement-title fee (plus registration fees)

What an Idaho Name Change Costs and How Long It Takes

Idaho Marriage Certificate Offices

Order certified copies from the county recorder that issued your license (cheapest), or from the state:

Source	What it issues	Fee
County recorder that issued the license (Ada, Blaine, Idaho, Valley, etc.)	Certified copies of current marriages	$2 each
State Bureau of Vital Records	Certified copies, 1947 to present (online or mail only)	$16 each

Idaho State Taxes

Idaho has a state income tax, and it has its own step (it does not just follow Social Security). In the Taxpayer Access Point (TAP), choose More, then Manage Names and Addresses, open the Names tab, select your current legal name, choose Change this name, and upload your marriage document. (Do not confuse this with Manage My Profile, which only edits a display nickname.) Then give your employer an updated Idaho W-4 so your W-2 matches.

Licensed Professional? Update With DOPL

Most Idaho professions are licensed by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), and a name change is a free record update:

Credential	What to do
Nursing (RN/LPN)	No fee. In DOPL Online Services, go to More, then Names and Addresses, and submit the name change with a certified copy of your marriage license (also complete the Board of Nursing notarized Affidavit for Change of Name and bring an updated state ID).
Other DOPL professions	Real estate, cosmetology, and the rest: submit your board’s name-change request through DOPL Online Services with the certified marriage certificate; most are a free update.

Update Your Voter Registration

Idaho Name Change Mistakes to Avoid

A few Idaho-specific trip-ups: first, do not pay the state’s $16 per copy when the county recorder that issued your license sells the same certified copy for $2. Second, remember the DMV is county-run, so documents and process vary a little by county, and there is no walk-in vital-records counter, so order marriage copies ahead. Third, do not skip Social Security, which the DMV requires first. And fourth, do not assume your state tax account updates itself, since Idaho has a separate TAP step beyond the Social Security update. The good news: taking your spouse’s surname, moving your maiden name to the middle, or hyphenating are all allowed on the marriage certificate with no court.

Other Idaho Licenses to Update

A few state-issued credentials need your new name too:

• Firearm carry. Idaho has permitless (constitutional) carry, so no permit is required. If you hold a standard or Enhanced Concealed Weapons License (issued by your county sheriff), it does not update automatically: change your driver’s license first, then ask the issuing sheriff for a name-change or duplicate license. The fee is commonly about $15 but varies by county.
• Hunting and fishing. Update your name in your Idaho Fish and Game account (Go Outdoors Idaho).
• Passport. Federal and optional: use form DS-5504 (free within a year of issue) or DS-82; worth it if you travel.

Changing your name is one of the happiest kinds of paperwork there is. Take it one step at a time, in the order above, and you will be signing your new Idaho name before you know it.

The same trip to the same counter costs $5 or $30 in Maine, and the only thing that decides which is whether your license is a REAL ID. Maine publishes both numbers and never puts them side by side, so most newlyweds find out at the window. Here is what the whole thing actually costs, in the order the state wants it done.

Which Married Name Can You Take in Maine?

Maine keeps this simple for the common case and asks one extra thing that catches people with complicated histories. The BMV’s wording is worth reading before you decide anything: acceptable proof of a legal name change is “a marriage license, divorce decree, or court order”, and “the documents must show a clear trail of name changes from the name on the identity document to the current name.” Maine BMV: REAL ID

What you want	What Maine needs
Take your spouse’s surname	Your certified marriage certificate. No court, no petition, no filing fee.
You have been married before, or changed your name before	A clear trail. Maine wants documents linking every name you have held back to the one on your birth certificate or passport. One missing link and the counter cannot join the dots for you.
A name your marriage record does not show	The probate court. Maine handles court name changes there, which is why the Board of Nursing lists a “probate court document” alongside a marriage certificate as proof of a name change. Talk to the court before you assume anything.

If your plan is simply your spouse’s last name, the marriage record is the whole story and you can stop worrying about this section. If it is anything else, gather the chain of documents before you book a BMV visit rather than after.

Step 1: $15 at the Town Office, and the State Charges the Same

Maine is a town state. There are no county vital records here: your marriage record lives with the municipal clerk, the same office that issued your license, and there are hundreds of them.

What is unusual is that going to the state does not cost you more. A certified copy is $15.00 for the first and $6.00 for each additional copy ordered at the same time, whether you buy it at your town office (where the fee is capped by 30-A M.R.S. 2652) or from Maine CDC’s vital records office in Augusta. Most states punish you for using the state registry. Maine does not. Maine CDC: request documents

So choose on convenience rather than price, and order every copy you need in one go, because the drop from $15 to $6 only applies within a single order. Two copies cost $21; two separate orders cost $30. One note if you order from Augusta: the $15 is a search fee covering a year either side of the date you give, with one certified copy included if the record is found. Our guide to certified marriage certificates covers what “certified” has to look like.

Step 2: Social Security, Online in Maine

Good news for a state this rural: you do not have to drive. Social Security’s internet replacement card policy lists the participating states, and Maine is marked yes for a last name change due to marriage, not merely for a plain replacement card. File it online.

It is free, your number never changes, and you will need your certified marriage copy. Do it early, because the 30 day clock in the next step starts at your name change, not at the moment the new card lands. Social Security name change · our Social Security name change guide

If you would rather do it in person, Maine has 8 Social Security field offices:

Office	Address	City	ZIP	Phone
Auburn	600 Turner Street	Auburn	04210	(833) 388-6432
Augusta	68 Sewall St	Augusta	04330	(866) 882-5422
Bangor	202 Harlow St	Bangor	04401	(877) 405-1448
Portland	400 Congress St	Portland	04101	(877) 319-3076
Presque Isle	365 Main St	Presque Isle	04769	(866) 837-2719
Rockland	169 Camden St	Rockland	04841	(855) 269-9179
Saco	110 Main St	Saco	04072	(877) 253-4715
Waterville	14 Colby Street	Waterville	04901	(866) 931-9169

Step 3: The $5 or $30 Question

Step 4: In Maine, the Car Costs More Than the License

Maine Income Tax

There is no form for this, and that is the answer rather than a gap in our research. Maine Revenue Services handles an individual name change by correspondence: write or email Taxpayer Assistance, giving your legal name, your Social Security number, and the account type and number. Maine Revenue Services: individual income tax FAQ

The postal address is Maine Revenue Services, Taxpayer Assistance, P.O. Box 1057, Augusta, ME 04332-1057. It is free and it takes one short letter. If you go looking for Form 941BN-ME, put it down: that one is for business withholding accounts, not for you.

Concealed Carry in Maine

Voter Registration

What Newlyweds Get Wrong in Maine

Why did my friend pay $5 and I was charged $30?

Because one of you holds a REAL ID and the other does not. Maine charges $5 for a duplicate non-compliant license and $30 for a duplicate REAL ID. It is the same transaction and the same counter.

Is the 30 days about getting the new card?

No. 29-A M.R.S. 1407 puts the duty on notifying the Secretary of State in writing, with your former and new names and the numbers of the licenses and registrations you hold. That part is free. Collecting the new plastic is the errand that follows it.

Should I get my certificate from my town or from Augusta?

Whichever is easier. Unusually, they cost the same: $15 for the first copy and $6 for each additional one in the same order. What does cost you is splitting your order in two, because the second order starts at $15 again.

I have been married before. Is that a problem?

Only if the paperwork has a hole in it. Maine asks for documents showing a clear trail of name changes from the name on your identity document to the name you use now. Assemble the chain before the visit.

Does my license update my car?

No. A corrected title is a separate $33 application, and it is the most expensive step in a Maine name change.

Licensed Professional?

Nurses (Maine State Board of Nursing)

The Board accepts a marriage certificate, a divorce decree (the full document, not just the page with your name on it), or a probate court document as proof of a name change. A birth certificate is what they want instead if you are correcting a name rather than changing one. Questions go to nursing.pfr@maine.gov. Maine State Board of Nursing: licensing FAQs

No fee or deadline is published for the name change itself, so we are not going to invent one. The $30 on the Board’s fee page is the license verification charge, which is a different service.

Every other Maine board

Each keeps its own form, its own proof requirements and its own timetable, and none of them hear about your marriage from anybody else. Check each board you hold a license with, and ask what they accept before you post anything.

What a Maine Name Change Costs

Which Maine Office Does What

Maine has no county vital records, so the map looks different from most states. Your town office does more of the work than you would expect:

Office	What it handles	Cost
Your municipal (town or city) clerk	The marriage license, and certified copies of the marriage record afterwards	$15.00 first, $6.00 each additional
Maine CDC, Vital Records, Augusta	The same certified copy, in person, by mail or through VitalChek	The same $15.00 / $6.00
Social Security (online, or 8 offices)	The record every other agency checks against	Free
Maine BMV branch or mobile unit	The license, in person, within 30 days of the written notice	$5.00 or $30.00
Maine BMV, Division of Title Services	The corrected vehicle title	$33.00
Your municipal registrar	Voter registration, in writing, both names	Free

So the Maine order runs: certified copies at your town office, Social Security online in the same week, written notice to the Secretary of State inside thirty days, then the BMV in person for the $5 or $30 card, the $33 corrected title, one letter to Taxpayer Assistance, and written notice to your registrar. Our name change checklist covers the banks and accounts that follow, and you can compare how other states handle it if you have moved recently.

Rhode Island quietly fixed the most annoying part of this in 2022. If you married in 2022 or later, you can pick up your certified marriage certificate at any city or town hall in the state, not only the one that issued your license. In a state you can drive across in 45 minutes, that still saves the afternoon.

Which Married Name You Can Take in Rhode Island

Taking your spouse’s surname needs no judge and no petition. The certified marriage certificate is the document that proves the change, and every counter below works from it.

What you want	Does the marriage certificate cover it?	What it takes
Take your spouse’s surname	Yes	A certified copy of the marriage certificate. No court
Go back to a former surname	Usually, with the document that shows it	The DMV asks for “proof of name change, such as a government issued marriage license” whenever your name differs from your identity document
A hyphenated or combined surname	Confirm the spelling first	Rhode Island does not publish a statutory list of permitted married names, so ask the DMV what it will print before you order documents in that name
Move your maiden name into the middle slot	Confirm first	Same reason. Get the answer from Social Security and the DMV before the rest of your records follow
Change your first name	No	A marriage record does not do that. It is a court matter and a separate process

Whichever you choose, one rule runs through the whole thing: the name on your Social Security record has to match the name you ask the DMV to print, because Rhode Island checks the two against each other.

Step 1: The Certificate, at Any Town Hall

Which building holds your record depends on one thing, the year. Rhode Island Department of Health puts it plainly: go to any city or town hall for a marriage certificate “if the … marriage occurred in 2022 to present“, and to the city or town hall “where you lived at the time of the event or where the event occurred” if it happened before 2022. RIDOH: birth, death and marriage records

1. Work out which rule applies. Married 2022 or later, any of the 39 city or town halls will do. Married earlier, go back to the one where the marriage happened or where you lived then.
2. Bring photo identification. You are eligible as the registrant, and so are a spouse, parent, child or sibling.
3. Pay $22.00 for the first certified copy in person, and $18.00 for each additional copy of the same record bought at the same time.
4. By mail it is $25.00 for the first copy, additional copies still $18.00. VitalChek handles online orders and adds its own fee.
5. Buy at least two. Several of the steps below want an original or a certified copy rather than a photocopy, and a second copy bought today is $18 instead of another $22 trip. Narragansett Town Clerk fee schedule · City of Providence vital records · our guide to certified marriage certificates

Not married yet? The license itself is $24, both of you apply in person at the clerk’s office in the city or town where the Rhode Islander lives, and the ceremony can then take place anywhere in the state. RIDOH: general marriage requirements

Step 2: Social Security, Which Rhode Island Can Do Online

Here is a genuine Rhode Island advantage. Social Security’s internet replacement card policy lists most states as online for a plain replacement card only. Rhode Island is marked yes for a last name change due to marriage as well, so you can file the change itself online instead of mailing an SS-5 or queuing. It is free and your number never changes. SSA: change your name · our Social Security name change guide

If you would rather do it in person, there are only 5 field offices in the state:

Office	Address	City	ZIP	Phone
Newport	130 Bellevue Ave	Newport	02840	(866) 253-5607
Pawtucket	4 Pleasant St	Pawtucket	02860	(866) 931-7079
Providence	One Empire Plaza	Providence	02903	(877) 402-0808
Warwick	30 Quaker Lane	Warwick	02886	(866) 964-2038
Woonsocket	2168 Diamond Hill Road	Woonsocket	02895	(877) 229-3542

Step 3: The DMV, $28.50 and a 24 Hour Wait

Two things about the Rhode Island DMV are worth knowing before you go. The first is the order, in the DMV’s own words: “Name change must be done with Social Security first. It will take 24 hours for changes at Social Security to become effective for the DMV to process your transaction.” Not a suggestion, a system limitation. File with Social Security, sleep on it, then go.

The second is the price. Older guides to this, including the previous version of this page, quote $6.50. The DMV fee schedule now lists Update License $28.50, the same as a duplicate, and notes that every listed fee “include[s] $3.50 technology surcharge”. If you pay by card there is also “a minimum service fee of $1.55 per transaction, or 2.40% for transactions of $65.00 and over”.

You need the License/ID/Permit Application (LI-1), your current Rhode Island license, and one document showing the correct name; the DMV specifies that “proof of name change, such as a government issued marriage license is required if your name differs from your name listed on your identity document”. It has to be done in person, at any DMV branch or a participating AAA office, and there is no online or mail route for a name change. No deadline is published. RI DMV: name and address change · RI DMV license fee schedule · form LI-1 · our driver license name change guide

Step 4: The Car, and Why You Probably Should Not Buy a New Title

1. Update the registration: $8.50. The DMV registration and title fee schedule lists “Update Registration” at $8.50, which is the cheap and sensible move while you are already at the counter.
2. Think twice about the title. A duplicate title is $53.50. Unless you need a paper title in your married name right now, most people let the title catch up at the next sale or transfer.
3. Know what else changed. From January 1, 2026 the DOT surcharge rose from $30 to $40 per two-year passenger registration and per five-year license issuance, and new annual fees apply to electric and hybrid vehicles ($200 battery electric, $100 plug-in hybrid, $50 hybrid). None of that is a name-change cost, but it lands on the same bill if you combine the trip with a renewal. RI DMV registration and title fees · RI DMV: fee changes effective January 1, 2026

Rhode Island Steps People Skip

Record	What Rhode Island wants	Cost
State income tax	A real form: RI-COI, Change of Name or Address, to the Division of Taxation	No published fee
Voter registration	Update online at the Voter Information Center, or on paper to your local board of canvassers	Free
Health professional license	A profile change form emailed to RIDOH with your marriage certificate	No published fee
Banks, employer, insurers	Their own forms, usually with a certified copy	Varies

Voter Registration

What a Rhode Island Name Change Costs

What Newlyweds Get Wrong in Rhode Island

Driving back to the town that issued the license. If you married in 2022 or later, any city or town hall in Rhode Island can print your certificate. Before 2022, you do have to go back.

Budgeting $6.50 for the DMV. That figure is out of date, including on the older version of this page. It is $28.50 now.

Going to the DMV the same day as Social Security. The DMV needs 24 hours for the change to reach its system. Same-day is a wasted trip.

Filing an SS-5 by post. Rhode Island is one of the states where the marriage name change can be filed with Social Security online. Check before you find an envelope.

Buying a $53.50 duplicate title you do not need. Updating the registration is $8.50. The title can wait for the next transfer unless you need it now.

Forgetting the tax form. Rhode Island is one of the states that actually publishes one. RI-COI takes five minutes and stops a mismatch at filing time.

Rhode Island Income Tax

Unlike most states in this guide, Rhode Island gives you a form: RI-COI, Change of Name or Address, filed with the Division of Taxation for your personal income tax record. Mail it to One Capitol Hill, Providence RI 02908, or fax the Registration Section on (401) 574-8915. No fee is published. Form RI-COI · RI Division of Taxation: individuals

Which Rhode Island Office Does What

Office	What it handles	Cost
Any city or town hall (marriages 2022 onward)	Certified copies of your marriage certificate	$22 / $18
The town hall where you married or lived (before 2022)	The same certificate for older marriages	$22 / $18
Social Security (online, or 5 offices)	The record the DMV checks 24 hours later	Free
Any RI DMV branch or participating AAA	License on form LI-1, then the registration	$28.50 plus $8.50
Local board of canvassers	Voter registration, or do it online	Free
RI Division of Taxation	Form RI-COI	No fee published
RI Department of Health, licensing	Health professional licenses, by email	No fee published

Licensed Professional?

Board	How the name change works
RI Department of Health (nurses and most health professions)	File the Nursing Profile Change Form or the general Licensee Profile Change Form, emailed to RIDOH.licensing@health.ri.gov with “a copy of legal documentation of your name change (i.e. marriage certificate or divorce decree)”. RIDOH publishes no fee for it. Nursing Profile Change Form · Licensee Profile Change Form · RIDOH licensing
Every other Rhode Island board	Its own form and its own timetable, and none of them hear about your marriage from the DMV. Check each license you hold

So the Rhode Island order runs: a certified copy at whichever town hall is nearest if you married in 2022 or later, the Social Security change online, a 24 hour pause, then one in-person DMV visit at $28.50 with $8.50 for the registration, and finally RI-COI, your voter record and any license you hold. Our name change checklist covers the banks and accounts after that, and you can compare how other states handle it if you have moved recently.