Just married in Missouri? Two things on this page are worth more than everything else combined. The first is where you order your certified marriage copies, because the state cannot sell you the document your bank and Social Security actually want. The second is a fee waiver most Missouri newlyweds walk straight past, and it can make the license half of this trip free.
The Missouri Mistakes That Cost People Money
Ordering your marriage certificate from the state
This is the big one, and it is specific to Missouri. The state health department will send you a Certified Statement Relating to Marriage, which lists the names, the date and the county where the marriage was recorded. That is not the same thing as your marriage certificate. Missouri says so plainly: an actual certified copy of the original marriage certificate may only be obtained from the Recorder of Deeds in the county that issued your license. Order from the state and you will pay for a document you then have to replace.
Paying a duplicate license fee you did not owe
If you have never held a REAL ID compliant license or ID, Missouri waives the duplicate fee one time when you upgrade, and the Department of Revenue confirms that personal information may be changed as part of that same transaction. Your name change is exactly that. RSMo 302.185 is the statute: the department shall not collect a duplicate license fee for a REAL ID card issued to someone who has never had one. You still owe the license office processing fee, but the $7.50 duplicate fee comes off. Do a plain duplicate today and upgrade later and you have spent the waiver on nothing.
Assuming you can move your maiden name into the middle slot
In plenty of states that is a free move with a marriage certificate. Not on a Missouri license. The Missouri Driver Guide is blunt about it: a middle name change requires a court order. The Department of Revenue accepts your certified marriage certificate for a last name change. If your plan is Firstname Maidenname Marriedname on the license itself, budget for the courthouse.
Trusting the $14.50 figure for your car
The Department of Revenue’s own marriage name-change page still quotes $14.50 for a motor vehicle title. That was the old $8.50 title fee plus a $6.00 processing fee. The processing fee is now $9.00 under RSMo 136.055, so bring $17.50. Turning up $3 short at the counter is a wasted trip.
Buying a single certified copy
At $9 or $10 a copy, the second and third are cheap insurance. Social Security wants to see one if you cannot use the online route, the license office wants to see one, and paperwork does go missing.
Paying for a duplicate when a renewal was due anyway
The Department of Revenue points this out itself: if your license is within 184 days of expiring, you may be able to renew early instead of buying a duplicate now and a renewal a few months later.
Step 1: Certified Copies From the Recorder of Deeds
Missouri keeps marriage records with the county Recorder of Deeds that issued your marriage license, not with a health department and not with the county where you now live. If you were licensed in Jackson County and moved to Springfield, Jackson County still holds your record.
The price barely moves across the state, and there is a statutory reason. RSMo 451.151 sets a $7 fee for every certified copy of a marriage license, collected by the recorder and passed to the children’s trust fund. Each recorder adds its own copy and certification charge on top, which lands almost every county at $9 or $10. The county table further down has the ones people ask about most.
The same statute prices the marriage license itself at $20, which matters only if you are reading this before the wedding. And to be completely clear about the state route: the health department’s Certified Statement Relating to Marriage is a real document, it is just not the certified copy of the certificate that agencies ask for. Our guide to getting a certified marriage certificate covers what a valid copy has to show.
Step 2: Social Security, and Missouri Lets You Do It Online
Start here, because the license office checks your Social Security record while you stand there. The Department of Revenue’s document requirements describe an electronic verification inquiry to Social Security, and if that check fails you are asked for a physical Social Security document or sent to Social Security to sort it out. Doing Social Security first is what keeps that from happening.
The card is free, and Missouri is one of the states where the change can be made online through a personal my Social Security account. Per the Social Security rules you need to be 18 or older, a U.S. citizen with citizenship shown on your Social Security record, holding a valid Missouri license or state ID, with a U.S. mailing address and a state issued marriage certificate, and changing only your last name. Anything else is Form SS-5, by mail or in person, and also free. Our Social Security name change guide has the full federal process.
Missouri has 35 Social Security field offices if you need one:
| Office | Address | City | ZIP | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Girardeau | 2445 Cape Centre Dr | Cape Girardeau | 63703 | (866) 931-7077 |
| Chillicothe | 1105 S Mitchell Ave | Chillicothe | 64601 | (877) 405-7668 |
| Columbia | 3402 Buttonwood Dr | Columbia | 65201 | (866) 563-9108 |
| Fosu West – Branch 1 | 601 E 12th St | Kansas City | 64106 | (877) 685-5942 |
| Fosu West – Branch 2 | 601 E 12th St | Kansas City | 64106 | (877) 685-5942 |
| Fosu West – Branch 3 | 601 E 12th St | Kansas City | 64106 | (877) 685-5942 |
| Fosu West – Branch 4 | 601 E 12th St | Kansas City | 64106 | (877) 685-5942 |
| Fosu West – Branch 5 | 601 E 12th St | Kansas City | 64106 | (877) 685-5942 |
| Hannibal | 155 Forrest Drive | Hannibal | 63401 | (866) 331-7094 |
| Independence | 3520 S Noland Rd | Independence | 64055 | (866) 864-1517 |
| Jefferson City | 129 Scott Station Road | Jefferson City | 65109 | (877) 405-9803 |
| Joplin | 4102 S Arizona Ave | Joplin | 64804 | (866) 964-7421 |
| Kansas City (Gateway) | 1800 E Truman Rd | Kansas City | 64127 | (888) 221-3612 |
| Kansas City North | 8620 N Green Hills Rd | Kansas City | 64154 | (877) 805-6671 |
| Kansas City South | 6320 Euclid Ave | Kansas City | 64132 | (888) 488-9417 |
| Kennett | 800 South Bypass | Kennett | 63857 | (866) 931-4497 |
| Kirksville | 1305 Crown Drive | Kirksville | 63501 | (888) 386-2705 |
| Lebanon | 2546 S Jefferson Ave | Lebanon | 65536 | (866) 931-7104 |
| Maryville | 518 W South Hills Dr | Maryville | 64468 | (877) 833-2731 |
| Nevada | 120 S Commerce Dr | Nevada | 64772 | (888) 808-5441 |
| Park Hills | 507 E Main Street | Park Hills | 63601 | (877) 622-9009 |
| Poplar Bluff | 66 Highway 142 | Poplar Bluff | 63901 | (855) 722-3498 |
| Rolla | 1813 E 10th St | Rolla | 65401 | (800) 551-2056 |
| Sedalia | 3404 W 10th St | Sedalia | 65301 | (877) 405-5459 |
| Sikeston | 711 York Dr | Sikeston | 63801 | (866) 964-4261 |
| Springfield | 1570 W Battlefield St | Springfield | 65807 | (877) 850-7824 |
| St Joseph | 3715 Beck Rd Ste F | Saint Joseph | 64506 | (888) 366-6148 |
| St Louis North County | 880 Rue St. Francois | Florissant | 63031 | (866) 931-2871 |
| St Louis Southwest | 650 Gravois Bluff Blvd | Fenton | 63026 | (866) 331-2307 |
| St Louis-Dtn | 717 N 16th Street | St Louis | 63103 | (888) 748-2014 |
| St Louis-Southside | 9494 Manchester Rd | Rock Hill | 63119 | (877) 714-0372 |
| St Peters | 4800 Executive Ctr Pky | Saint Peters | 63376 | (877) 405-3570 |
| St. Louis Central | 25 N Oaks Plz | Saint Louis | 63121 | (888) 810-7291 |
| Union | 43 Prairie Dell Plz | Union | 63084 | (866) 837-1063 |
| West Plains | 1612 Imperial Drive | West Plains | 65775 | (866) 614-2741 |
Step 3: Your Missouri Driver License
What it costs, and why the number looks odd. RSMo 302.185 sets the duplicate license fee at $7.50 for ordinary classes. The license office processing fee sits on top of it: $9 if your last license was a three year issuance, $18 if it was a six year one. That is where the published totals come from: $16.50 and $25.50 for a standard Class F duplicate.
The waiver worth knowing about. Never had a REAL ID? The $7.50 duplicate fee is waived once when you upgrade, and your name change can ride along in the same transaction. You still pay the $9 or $18 processing fee. It does not apply if you are also changing license class or adding endorsements or restrictions. Missouri REAL ID
What to bring. Your certified marriage certificate, plus the documents proving identity, Social Security number, and Missouri residency listed in the Department of Revenue requirements. You apply for a duplicate license in the new name.
It is an in person job. A new signature is captured and a new photo may be taken, so this is not a mail or web transaction. Missouri license offices are contracted rather than run by the state, so hours and local practice vary: find yours on the official office locator and check before you drive over.
Last name only. The marriage certificate covers your surname. A middle name change needs a court order, which is the Missouri quirk covered further down.
Step 4: Your Car
$17.50, and Missouri handles the car as a title job. An $8.50 title fee under RSMo 301.190 plus the $9.00 processing fee under RSMo 136.055. Watch out for the older $14.50 figure still printed on the department’s marriage page: that used the retired $6 processing fee.
What you hand over. A completed Form 108, Application for Missouri Title and License, your existing title, and proof of the name change. Do it at any license office, or mail the notarized application to the Motor Vehicle Bureau, PO Box 100, Jefferson City, MO 65105-0100. Missouri titling
Registration. Missouri treats the title application as the name change for the vehicle, so there is no separate required registration fee for it. A duplicate registration receipt, if you want one in the new name, is its own transaction at $8.50 plus the $9.00 processing fee.
Missouri State Taxes: One Email
This is the easiest step in the guide, and one of the easiest in the country. The Department of Revenue asks you to email your name change with your full old name, the last four digits of your Social Security number, and your new name, to income@dor.mo.gov. No form, no fee, no portal account. If you would rather speak to someone, individual income tax is on 573-751-3505. Doing it before you file keeps your return from tripping over a name mismatch.
The Missouri Card With a Real Deadline
Most of this guide has no clock on it. This one does, and it is the step Missouri newlyweds forget:
| Credential | What Missouri requires |
|---|---|
| Concealed carry permit | Furnish proof of the name change to the sheriff within 30 days. The duty applies whichever permit you hold: RSMo 571.104 covers the standard five year permit, with a corrected permit issued, and RSMo 571.210 covers lifetime and extended permits, with the sheriff reporting the new name to the permit system within three days |
What a Missouri Name Change Costs
Cost & Time at a Glance
| Cost | About $61 for the core steps: two certified copies at $9, a $25.50 license duplicate, and $17.50 for the vehicle title. Social Security, the tax record and voter registration are free. |
| Time | Social Security can often be done online the same day, then one visit to a license office. The car and the tax email can wait a week. |
| Deadline | Hold a concealed carry permit? Proof of the name change goes to your sheriff within 30 days. |
| Step | Missouri cost |
|---|---|
| Certified marriage copy, county Recorder of Deeds | $9 or $10 in most counties |
| Certified marriage copy, City of St. Louis | $12.00 plus postage |
| Social Security card | Free, and often available online in Missouri |
| Driver license duplicate, three year issuance | $16.50 ($7.50 duplicate plus $9 processing) |
| Driver license duplicate, six year issuance | $25.50 ($7.50 duplicate plus $18 processing) |
| First REAL ID upgrade | Duplicate fee waived once, processing fee still due |
| Vehicle title correction | $17.50 ($8.50 title plus $9 processing) |
| Missouri income tax record | Free, by email |
| Voter registration | Free |
Your passport is federal and optional: free with Form DS-5504 if it was issued less than a year ago, otherwise $130 by mail with Form DS-82, and routine processing currently runs 4 to 6 weeks. See our passport name change guide.
What Your County Charges for a Certified Copy
Go to the Recorder of Deeds for the county that issued your marriage license. These are the published certified copy fees for the counties most Missouri newlyweds ask about:
| County or city | Certified marriage copy | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson (Kansas City) | $10.00 | Recorder of Deeds |
| St. Louis County | $9.00 | Recorder of Deeds |
| City of St. Louis | $12.00 plus postage | Recorder of Deeds |
| St. Charles | $9.00 plus $2 postage by mail | Recorder of Deeds |
| Clay | $10.00 | Recorder of Deeds |
| Boone (Columbia) | $9.00 | Recorder of Deeds |
| Greene (Springfield) | $9.00 | Recorder of Deeds |
| Jefferson | $9.00 | Recorder of Deeds |
If your county is not listed, expect $9 or $10 and call before you drive: the $7 statutory share is fixed statewide, and only the recorder’s own charge moves.
Update Your Voter Registration
Missouri lets you do this one from the sofa: the Secretary of State’s Register to Vote page covers updating your name as well as registering, through the online voter registration application. Paper still works too, sent to your local election authority, which is your county clerk or board of election commissioners. The deadline is the fourth Wednesday before an election, and mailed forms have to be postmarked by that same day.
Licensed Professional? Tell Your Board
Nurses
The Missouri State Board of Nursing takes name changes through its own change of name and address process, with legal documentation of the name change attached. The board’s licensure rules give you 30 days to report the change.
Everyone else licensed in Missouri
Missouri licenses most other professions through the Division of Professional Registration, and each board keeps its own name change form and its own clock. Check your board’s page rather than assuming the license updates itself when the state has your new name on file elsewhere. Nothing about the Social Security or license steps above reaches a professional board automatically.
Which Married Name Can You Take in Missouri?
Three routes, and Missouri draws the line in a place that surprises people:
- Taking your spouse’s last name. Your certified marriage certificate is the name change document. No court, no filing, no fee beyond the copies.
- A hyphenated or combined surname. Social Security will make the change where the new surname is shown on, or can be derived from, the marriage document, and that includes a compound of both spouses’ surnames. Social Security rules
- Moving your maiden name into the middle slot. For your Missouri license this is a court order, not a marriage certificate job. The Missouri Driver Guide lists a middle name change as requiring one.
If you do need the court, the form is the Petition for Change of Name for an adult, filed in the circuit court of the county where you live. Filing fees are set circuit by circuit rather than statewide, so ask your circuit clerk what the total is and what else they expect from you before you file.
That is the Missouri sequence: certified copies from the recorder, Social Security, one license office visit with the REAL ID waiver in mind, then the car, the tax email and your voter record. Our name change checklist covers the banks, cards and accounts that come after, our driver license name change guide covers the counter visit in more depth, and you can compare how other states handle it if you have moved recently.