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
$5.00 if your license is non-compliant. $30.00 if it is a REAL ID. Maine BMV publishes both figures on the same page: “there is a $5 fee for a duplicate non-compliant license/identification card” and “there is a $30 fee for a duplicate REAL ID license/identification card.” Same transaction, six times the price. Maine BMV: replacement or duplicate license
30 days, and the statute is specific about what you owe. 29-A M.R.S. 1407 says that on a change of name you “shall, within 30 days, notify the Secretary of State, in writing or by other means approved by the Secretary of State, of the former and new names and of the number of the licenses and registrations held.” Two things fall out of that: the duty is to notify, which costs nothing, and the notice covers your vehicle registrations as well as your license.
Go in person. Maine BMV has no dedicated name-change page, and its REAL ID rules say a first REAL ID application “must be done in person at a BMV branch office or mobile unit.” Take your certified marriage certificate and the chain of documents from the section above. Our driver license name change guide covers the visit.
If you are not sure which card you hold, look for the star in the top corner. No star, $5. Star, $30. If you are due to upgrade to REAL ID anyway, doing it at the same visit saves you a second trip, though not the fee.
Step 4: In Maine, the Car Costs More Than the License
$33.00 for a corrected title. That is the same as a duplicate title and the same as a brand new certificate of title. Maine charges one flat price for all three, plus $10.00 if you want it expedited: “there is an additional fee of $10.00 for expedited issuance of any title.” Maine BMV title fees
Look at the shape of that. A Maine license name change can cost $5 and the car costs $33. In almost every other state it is the other way round, so if you have been assuming the car is the cheap afterthought, budget again.
Do not confuse the title with the registration. The written notice you owe the Secretary of State under 29-A 1407 already covers your registrations. The title is a separate document with its own $33 application.
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
No permit is required, so for most people there is nothing to update. Maine has had permitless carry since 15 October 2015, under Public Law 2015, chapter 327, for anyone 21 or over who is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm, and 18 or over for active duty Armed Forces. Maine State Police: concealed carry in Maine
If you hold a permit anyway, it is still worth keeping current, because a Maine permit is what other states recognize when you travel. Maine State Police publish a 30 day rule for a change of address but nothing we could find about a name change, so ring Weapons and Professional Licensing on 207-624-7210 and ask rather than guessing. We would rather send you to a phone number than print a deadline we cannot source.
Everything else with your name printed on it. Nothing in the steps above reaches your employer, your bank, your insurers or your utilities. Our name change checklist is that list.
Voter Registration
Written notice to your registrar, naming both names. 21-A M.R.S. 129 requires a voter to give written notice to the registrar of the new and former names before the close of registrations, or to give notice through the online voter registration application. In most Maine towns the registrar sits in the same building as the clerk who sold you the marriage license.
And Maine will not lock you out. This is a same-day registration state: you can register and vote on the same day, including election day, in person in your municipality. Registering to vote in Maine
Before election day, the in-person window depends on the size of your town. Municipalities of 2,500 or fewer accept in-person registrations only on the last business day the clerk’s office is open before the election; larger municipalities accept them on the last 5 business days. 21-A M.R.S. 122
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
Cost & Time at a Glance
| Cost | About $53 if your license is non-compliant, or about $78 if it is a REAL ID. The difference is entirely the license fee. Social Security, the 30 day notice, the tax letter and voter registration are all free. |
| Time | Certified copy the same day at your town office. Social Security online. One in-person BMV visit. Title by application, or $10 more to expedite. |
| Deadline | 30 days to notify the Secretary of State in writing (29-A M.R.S. 1407). |
| Step | Maine cost |
|---|---|
| Certified marriage copy, town clerk or Maine CDC | $15.00 first, $6.00 each additional in the same order |
| Social Security card | Free, and Maine can file it online |
| Notifying the Secretary of State within 30 days | Free |
| Duplicate license, non-compliant | $5.00 |
| Duplicate license, REAL ID | $30.00 |
| Corrected vehicle title | $33.00, plus $10.00 to expedite |
| Maine income tax | Free. One letter to Taxpayer Assistance |
| Voter registration | Free, and same-day registration is available |
| Concealed carry | No permit required in Maine |
Passport, federal and optional: free on DS-5504 if your book was issued less than a year ago, otherwise $130 by mail on DS-82. See our passport name change guide.
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.