Nebraska has one rule almost nobody tells you in time, and it is not about fees. If you want to change anything beyond your last name using your marriage license, then both your full legal name before the marriage and your full legal name after it have to appear on the license itself. That is a decision you make at the county clerk before the wedding, not an argument you win at the DMV afterwards.
What a Nebraska Name Change Costs
Cost & Time at a Glance
| Cost | About $32 for the two things you cannot skip: $16 for the certified marriage copy and $16 for the license. Add $10 for the vehicle title at your county treasurer. Social Security, the tax form, voter registration and the professional license change are all free. |
| Time | Certificate by mail or online from Vital Records, or the same day at the county. Social Security online in Nebraska, card in about two weeks. Then one in-person trip to a Driver Licensing Office, and the county treasurer for the car whenever suits. |
| Deadline | 60 days. Nebraska’s DMV states that “State Statute requires name changes to completed on your license, permit or ID within 60 days of your name change.” Voter registration is separately due by the third Friday before an election. |
| Step | Nebraska cost |
|---|---|
| Certified marriage copy, DHHS Vital Records | $16.00 |
| Social Security card | Free, and available online in Nebraska |
| Driver license with your married name | $16.00 total ($11 replacement plus a $5 security fee) |
| Vehicle title, at the county treasurer | $10.00 |
| Nebraska income tax, Form 22A | Free |
| Voter registration | Free, but the DMV has to go first |
| Professional license name change | Free |
| Printed wall credential, if you want one | $10.00 each. The wallet version is free |
Step 1: The $16 Certified Copy
Nebraska DHHS Vital Records: $16.00 per certified copy
Unlike a lot of states, Nebraska really does hold marriage records centrally. Vital Records has them from 1909 onward, and you have three ways in: online at nevitalrecords-dhhs.ne.gov with a Visa or MasterCard, by mail with a check or money order (no cards) to Nebraska Vital Records, P.O. Box 95065, Lincoln NE 68509-5065, or in person at 301 Centennial Mall South, First Floor, Lincoln. order online · Nebraska DHHS Vital Records
Have these ready or the application bounces: both parties’ full names at birth, the date of the marriage, the county where the license was issued, what you need the record for, and a photocopy of your current government-issued photo ID.
You can also go straight to the County Clerk or Register of Deeds in the county that issued your license, which is usually quicker if you live nearby. Anything before 1909 is county-only. Questions: (402) 471-2871. Our guide to certified marriage certificates covers what makes a copy “certified”.
Step 2: Social Security, Online If It Is Just the Surname
Nebraska is one of the states where Social Security will take a marriage last-name change through its online replacement card service. The conditions are that you are 18 or older, a U.S. citizen with citizenship already on your Social Security record, and that the change is to your last name only. Anything else is form SS-5 at an office. SSA policy RM 10205.630 · SSA: change your name · our Social Security name change guide
Notice how neatly that lines up with the Nebraska rule at the top of this page: the easy route, federal and state, is last-name-only at both ends. Free either way, your number never changes, and the card takes about two weeks. There are only 6 Social Security offices in the whole state, so the online option is worth using if you qualify:
| Office | Address | City | ZIP | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Island | 115 N Webb Rd | Grand Island | 68803 | (877) 407-3441 |
| Lincoln | 100 Centennial Mall N | Lincoln | 68508 | (866) 593-2880 |
| Norfolk | 605 Iron Horse Dr | Norfolk | 68701 | (855) 207-7082 |
| North Platte | 300 E. 3rd St. | North Platte | 69101 | (833) 329-5527 |
| Omaha | 604 N 109th Ct | Omaha | 68154 | (866) 716-8299 |
| Scottsbluff | 415 Valley View Dr | Scottsbluff | 69361 | (800) 297-4291 |
Step 3: The DMV, $16 and 60 Days
| Question | Nebraska answer |
|---|---|
| How long do I have? | 60 days. “State Statute requires name changes to completed on your license, permit or ID within 60 days of your name change” |
| Can I do it online? | No. “Name changes can’t be updated online. Apply at any Driver Licensing Office.” The online replacement service says the same thing from the other side: you qualify only if you “have not changed your name since the issuance of your last license” |
| What does it actually cost? | $16.00. The fee table shows “Replacement $11.00” plus a “Security Fee $5.00”. The $11 figure you will see quoted elsewhere is two thirds of the bill |
| What do I bring? | Your previous license or ID and certified evidence: a marriage license, a divorce decree, or a court order. The document “must enable the driver licensing staff to tie the two names together“ |
| Can I change more than my surname? | Only if your marriage license carries the proof. “In order to change any other name besides the last name when using a marriage license, the full legal name prior to marriage and the full legal name after marriage must be on the marriage license” |
| What if it does not? | Then the marriage license is not enough for that part of the change, and you are into the court route instead. Worth checking your license now rather than after a wasted trip |
Nebraska DMV: name change · replacement license, permit and state ID · Class O fee table · our driver license name change guide
Step 4: The Car, at the County Treasurer
Nebraska does not title vehicles at the DMV. Titles are issued at your County Treasurer’s motor vehicle office, so this is a separate errand in a different building.
- Sort the lien first, if there is one. With a paper title held by your lender, contact them and have the title forwarded to the county Motor Vehicle Office. With an electronic title, submit a Change Title Request to the lender for approval before the county can do anything.
- Bring the Certificate of Title itself if it is in your hands.
- Bring proof of the name change, which is the same certified copy you used at the DMV.
- Complete an Application for Certificate of Title.
- Pay $10 to the county Motor Vehicle Office, and they issue the new title.
Nebraska DMV: certificate of title name change
Voter Registration: The DMV Has to Go First
Nebraska chains these two together, and it catches people out. The Secretary of State’s registration portal will not let you complete an online name change unless the change has already been recorded at the DMV. So the order is not negotiable: Social Security, then the Driver Licensing Office, then your voter registration. The deadline is the third Friday before the election for online, mailed and in-person applications alike. Nebraska Secretary of State: registering to vote
Licensed Professional?
- Nebraska runs every health credential through one DHHS Licensure Unit form, “Name Change and/or Re-Issuance of a Credential”. DHHS Licensure Unit name change form
- Attach a copy of one document: a marriage license, a divorce decree, a court order of legal name change, a passport, or other valid verification. One is enough.
- The name change itself is free. The only charge is optional: “you must submit $10.00 for each reissued credential requested” if you want a new 4.5 by 7.25 inch wall credential printed.
- The wallet-size version costs nothing. The form says so directly, and points you at the state license-search site to print it yourself. Most people do not need the paid one.
- Send it to the Licensure Unit, 301 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln NE 68509-4986, or email DHHS.LicensureUnit@nebraska.gov. Phone (402) 471-0175. No deadline is published, so do it before your next renewal rather than to a date.
Nebraska Income Tax: Form 22A
The form is called a change of address form, and it is really a name form too. Nebraska’s Form 22A is titled “Nebraska Change of Address Request for Individual Income Tax Only”, but its actual fields are “Previous Name and Mailing Address” and “New Name and Mailing Address”, with a second line for your spouse’s name if you file jointly. Nebraska Form 22A
Fill in both sides, give a reason, and sign it: the declaration is made under penalties of law. Fax it to 402-471-5927 or mail it to the Nebraska Department of Revenue, PO Box 98903, Lincoln NE 68509-8903. There is no fee. Questions go to 800-742-7474 in Nebraska and Iowa, or 402-471-5729.
If you also run a business, that is a different form, Form 22. Form 22A is the individual one and it directs you there itself.
The Records That Do Not Update Themselves
- Employer and payroll first, right after Social Security, so your W-2 matches the federal record.
- Banks, cards, mortgage and loans. Most want to see a certified copy, so buying a second $16 copy while you are already ordering is usually cheaper than a second order later.
- Insurance, retirement accounts and beneficiary designations. The name on a beneficiary form is the one that gets checked when it matters most.
- Your passport. Federal, optional, and free on form DS-5504 if your passport was issued within the last year. See our passport name change guide.
Nebraska Name Change Questions
Do I need a court order to change my name after marriage in Nebraska?
Not for your surname. A certified marriage license is the evidence, and the DMV lists it first among the certified documents it accepts. A court is only involved if you want a name the marriage record cannot support.
Can I move my maiden name into my middle name slot?
Only if your marriage license shows it. The DMV’s rule is exact: to change any name other than the last name using a marriage license, “the full legal name prior to marriage and the full legal name after marriage must be on the marriage license.” Look at your license before you plan anything around it.
Is there a time limit?
Yes, and it is one of the longer ones: 60 days for your license, permit or ID, which the DMV attributes to state statute. Your voter registration has its own clock, the third Friday before an election.
Can I do any of it online?
Social Security, yes, if the change is only to your last name. Voter registration, yes, but only after the DMV has your new name. The license itself, no: “Name changes can’t be updated online.”
What does it cost in total?
Around $32 for the certificate and the license, plus $10 if you are retitling a car. Everything else in this guide is free.
Do I have to go to Lincoln for the certificate?
No. Vital Records takes online and mail orders, and your County Clerk or Register of Deeds can supply a copy of a license their office issued.
Which Nebraska Office Does What
| Office | What it handles | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| DHHS Vital Records, 301 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln · (402) 471-2871 | Certified marriage copies from 1909 onward, online, by mail or in person | $16.00 |
| County Clerk or Register of Deeds for the county that issued your license | The same certificate, locally. The only source for pre-1909 records | Varies by county |
| Social Security (6 offices, or online) | The federal record every other office follows | Free |
| Any Driver Licensing Office, in person | License, permit or state ID, within 60 days | $16.00 |
| Your County Treasurer, motor vehicle office | The vehicle title. Not the DMV | $10.00 |
| Nebraska Department of Revenue, Lincoln | Your tax record, on Form 22A, by fax or mail | Free |
| Secretary of State, or your county election office | Voter registration, after the DMV | Free |
| DHHS Licensure Unit, Lincoln | Professional credentials, one form for all of them | Free, or $10 for a printed wall credential |
Which Married Name Nebraska Will Accept
Yes, with your marriage license
- Taking your spouse’s surname. The ordinary case, no court, the certified license is the evidence.
- Changing more than the surname, but only if both full legal names, before and after, are printed on the license.
- Returning to a former surname after a divorce, using the decree instead.
No, not on the marriage license alone
- A middle-name or first-name change when the license does not show the full before-and-after names. Nebraska will not infer it.
- A surname that is not either spouse’s. That is a separate court process in your district court, and since Nebraska does not publish one statewide filing fee, ask the court rather than budgeting from a figure you found online.
The practical takeaway: pull out your marriage license and read the names on it before you plan anything more ambitious than taking your spouse’s surname. Everything downstream, from Social Security to the DMV to your bank, follows what that one document says.
So the Nebraska order runs: check what names are printed on your marriage license, order the $16 certified copy from Vital Records or your county, file with Social Security online if it is a surname-only change, then get to a Driver Licensing Office inside 60 days for the $16 license. The county treasurer handles the car for $10, Form 22A closes out the Department of Revenue, and only then will voter registration take the change. 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.