New Hampshire will put your married name on your driver license for nothing. The same DMV page charges $10 for a replacement card after an address change, so this is a deliberate exception, not an oversight. What almost nobody mentions is the other half: state law gives you 30 days to tell them.
What Newlyweds Get Wrong in New Hampshire
Not knowing about RSA 263:9. The DMV states it plainly: any New Hampshire driver who changes their name “is required by law (RSA 263:9) to submit written notification to the DMV within 30 days.” The free card is generous. The clock is real.
Turning up without an appointment. The DMV asks you to “request an appointment to appear in person at any DMV office”. This is not a walk-in transaction, and it cannot be done by mail.
Expecting to keep the old license. You hand it in. In exchange you get a 60-day temporary paper license, and the permanent one arrives in the post.
Driving to the town where you married. You do not have to. All 234 city and town clerks issue marriage certificates, and so does the state.
Looking for a New Hampshire tax step. There is not one, and as of 2025 there is not even an interest and dividends return to worry about.
Step 1: The Certificate, $15 From Any Clerk
- Pick any clerk. The Division of Vital Records Administration says certified copies come from “all 234 local City and Town Clerks” as well as from the state office in Concord. Nearest is fine.
- Bring photo identification. It is required by RSA 5-C:102, VI, and a driver license, passport or other picture ID does the job.
- Pay $15 for the first copy and $10 for each additional copy of the same record issued at the same time.
- Read that $15 carefully: it is a search fee, and the state warns it “is payable whether or not a record is found“. So give the clerk the exact date and town of the marriage.
- Ordering by post instead? Send the certificate application to NH Department of State, Division of Vital Records Administration, 9 Ratification Way, Concord NH 03301-2455. NH Vital Records: request for certificates · our guide to certified marriage certificates
Step 2: Social Security, Which Cannot Be Done Online Here
Social Security’s internet replacement card policy marks New Hampshire no for a marriage last-name change, so the online route is closed and it is form SS-5 by mail or at a field office, with your certified marriage copy and photo identification. Free, about two weeks, and your number never changes. SSA: change your name · our Social Security name change guide
Do this first. The DMV wants your records to line up, and the whole state has only 6 Social Security offices:
| Office | Address | City | ZIP | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concord | 70 Commercial St | Concord | 03301 | (888) 397-9798 |
| Keene | 9 Elm Street | Keene | 03431 | (877) 405-3651 |
| Littleton | 177 Main St | Littleton | 03561 | (877) 405-7658 |
| Manchester | 1100 Elm St | Manchester | 03101 | (866) 814-5408 |
| Nashua | 175 Amherst St | Nashua | 03064 | (877) 444-0134 |
| Portsmouth | 215 Commerce Way | Portsmouth | 03801 | (888) 397-9796 |
Step 3: The DMV, Free but On the Clock
Here is the whole transaction, in the DMV’s own terms. Take it as a checklist:
- Deadline: written notification to the DMV within 30 days of the name change, required by RSA 263:9.
- Appointment: “Applicants must request an appointment to appear in person at any DMV office.”
- Form: a completed and signed Record Change Request (DSMV 30). form DSMV 30
- Bring: your current New Hampshire driver license, plus legal documentation of the change: a marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption decree, a name change petition from the court of Probate, or another court decree.
- Cost: you hand in the old license and “a replacement license with a new photo and signature will be issued at no charge“.
- Leave with: a 60-day temporary paper license. The permanent card is mailed to you.
- Not by mail: “Name changes are not accepted through the mail.” Armed Forces members and their spouses have separate rules.
- One catch worth knowing: “If a divorce decree states that the individual wishes to retain his or her married name, then he or she cannot obtain a license with their maiden name.”
For comparison, the same page charges $10.00 for a replacement license after an address change. New Hampshire really does treat the name change differently. NH DMV: update personal information · DMV hours and locations · our driver license name change guide
Step 4: The Car, on the Same Form
| Question | New Hampshire answer |
|---|---|
| What do I file? | The same Record Change Request (DSMV 30) that handles your license |
| Where? | “you must appear at the DMV, Concord, or any registration office, with a copy of legal documentation noting the change” |
| What proof? | A marriage certificate, civil union certificate or its equivalent, or a divorce decree |
| What does registration cost? | Registration fees “differ for each vehicle. Contact your town or city office“, because the municipal part of a New Hampshire registration is collected at the town clerk. No separate name-change fee is published. NH DMV vehicle registration FAQ |
Voter Registration
New Hampshire has no online voter registration, so a name change means going in person to your town or city clerk or to a supervisors of the checklist meeting, “up to 6-13 days before the election”, with proof of identity, age, citizenship and domicile. Miss that window and you are still fine: “If you miss the deadline to register before the election, you can register at your polling location on election day.” NH Secretary of State: register to vote
Which New Hampshire Office Does What
| Office | What it handles | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Any of the 234 city and town clerks | Certified copies of your marriage certificate | $15 first, $10 each additional |
| Division of Vital Records Administration, Concord | The same certificate, by post or in person | $15 / $10 |
| Social Security (6 offices, or by mail) | The federal record everything else follows | Free |
| Any NH DMV office, by appointment | License and vehicle record, both on DSMV 30 | Free |
| Your town or city clerk, again | Vehicle registration, and your voter registration | Registration fees vary by vehicle |
| OPLC, Concord | Professional licenses across 50+ boards | No fee published |
New Hampshire Income Tax: There Is No Step
Nothing to file, and nothing to update. New Hampshire has no income tax on wages, so there is no state return your name has to match.
The one exception used to be the Interest and Dividends Tax. That is gone too: it was repealed effective January 1, 2025, and the Department of Revenue Administration states that “for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, New Hampshire taxpayers are no longer required to pay the state’s Interest and Dividends Tax.” Older periods can still be audited, but there is no forward-looking filing to worry about. NHDRA: repeal of the Interest and Dividends Tax
The Records That Do Not Update Themselves
- Your employer and payroll. Do this after Social Security, so your W-2 matches the federal record.
- Banks, cards and mortgage. Most want a certified copy, which is why the $10 second copy is worth buying.
- Insurance, pensions and beneficiaries. The name on a beneficiary designation is the one that gets checked when it matters most.
- Your passport. Federal, optional, and free on DS-5504 within a year of issue. See our passport name change guide.
What a New Hampshire Name Change Costs
Cost & Time at a Glance
| Cost | About $15, or $25 if you buy a spare certificate. The license is free, Social Security is free, the vehicle record change is on the same free form, and there is no state tax step at all. New Hampshire is one of the cheapest states in this guide. |
| Time | Certificate the same day at any town clerk. Social Security card about two weeks by mail. One DMV appointment after that, and you drive on a 60-day paper license until the new card arrives. |
| Deadline | 30 days to notify the DMV in writing, under RSA 263:9. That is the one clock in New Hampshire. |
| Step | New Hampshire cost |
|---|---|
| Certified marriage copy, any of 234 clerks or the state | $15 first, $10 each additional |
| Social Security card | Free, but not filable online in New Hampshire |
| Driver license with your married name | Free, in person, within 30 days |
| Replacement license after an address change, for contrast | $10.00 |
| Vehicle record, on the same DSMV 30 | No separate name-change fee published |
| Voter registration | Free, in person with your clerk |
| New Hampshire income tax | No tax, no step, no form |
| Professional license, through OPLC | No fee published |
Which Married Name New Hampshire Lets You Take
| What you want | Does the marriage certificate cover it? | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Take your spouse’s surname | Yes | The DMV lists a marriage certificate as legal documentation of the name change. No court |
| Go back to a former surname after a divorce | With the decree | A divorce decree is on the DMV’s accepted list, but note the caveat: if the decree says you wish to retain your married name, you cannot then get a license in your maiden name |
| A hyphenated or combined surname | Ask first | New Hampshire publishes no statutory list of permitted married names, so confirm what the DMV will print before every other record follows it |
| Move your maiden name into the middle slot | Ask first | Same reason. Settle it with Social Security and the DMV before you order anything else |
| Change your first name | No | That runs through the Probate court, and the DMV accepts “a name change petition from the court of Probate” as the document. It is a separate process from this one |
Licensed Professional?
- New Hampshire runs 50+ licensing boards through one agency, the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, which publishes a single Name Change Request Form covering them all. OPLC: request a name and contact change
- OPLC does not publish a fee or a deadline for the name change on that page, so ask your board rather than assume either.
- Send it with the same certified marriage copy you used at the DMV, and keep one spare for whatever asks next.
So the New Hampshire order runs: $15 for a certificate at whichever town clerk is closest, form SS-5 to Social Security because the online route is closed here, then one DMV appointment inside 30 days where the new license costs nothing and the same form fixes your vehicle record. There is no tax step and no online voter form. 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.