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How to Change Your Name in Alabama | 2020

How to Change Your Name In Alabama

Researching how to change your name in Alabama? Search no further! The MissNowMrs name change experts wrote this step by step name change checklist to help you through the Alabama process.

The Alabama Name Change Process

Social Security

The first federal agency to notify of your name change is the Social Security Administration. Fill out the SS-5 form and file it in-person or by mail. You will need to provide a certified marriage certificate and your current driver’s license or U.S. passport to have your paperwork processed. There’s no fee to file the SS-5.

In about 2 weeks, your new SS card will arrive in the mail. Your card will show your new married name, but your Social Security number will remain the same.

IRS

Next, download and complete the IRS 8822 form. Then, mail it to the designated IRS office for your state along with a photocopy of your marriage certificate. The Internal Revenue Service does not require you to file this free form. But, it ensures your married name is on record before tax returns are issued. Well worth it in our opinion!

State Department

Next up is changing your name with the State Department. They have three different forms for you to complete, based on your passport status. The forms are the DS-11, the DS-82, and the DS-5504. After selecting and completing the correct form, file it with your current passport, your certified marriage certificate, two passport photos, and the listed processing fee.

U.S. passports take approximately 5-6 weeks to be processed and issued. So, it is important to check your calendar for any upcoming international travel before filing to change your name on your passport.

Alabama Driver’s License

Ready for a new Alabama license in your married name? Unlike many states, the Alabama DMV does not need to see your new SS card to change your name on your driver’s license. This means you can apply for your new license as soon as you’d like!

You must apply for your Alabama license in person, with your current driver’s license, certified marriage certificate, and proof of residence if your address has recently changed. This is the only government agency that does same day married name change processing. So, you’ll walk out with your new name on your Alabama license the day you apply!

Alabama Voter Registration

Alabama voter registration is next on your name change to do list. Complete the State of Alabama Mail-In Voter form. Then sign and send it to your County Board of Registrars. Once that’s done, you can rest assured of your eligibility to vote under your married name.

ALL Your Creditors

Handling your name change with state and federal offices is only part of the married name change process. Notifying all of your creditors is actually a much longer and less defined procedure.

First up is notifying your employer, banks, and mortgage providers of your new name. More often than not, they will require you to fill out a name change form and show your certified marriage certificate and/or new SS card to update your name in their systems.

Then, move on to notifying your credit cards, utilities, professional license boards, insurance providers, loan providers, memberships, and frequent flyer accounts. The majority of these groups will allow you to change your name over the phone or by mailing in a brief form.

Finally, update your social media accounts and any publications that come to your home. When you stop receiving mail in your maiden name, your married name is official!

The Alabama Name Change Solution

Overwhelmed with all the steps of how to change your name in Alabama? There’s a simple solution! The MissNowMrs name change app or online service can save you 13 hours of stress. Join the 500,000+ newlyweds that let us change their names the easy way!

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How to Change Your Name in Tennessee [Step by Step]

How to change your name in Tennessee

Just married in Tennessee? Congratulations. Your name change here runs through a specific set of Tennessee offices: the county clerk that issued your marriage license, a Driver Services Center for your license, and your county clerk again for the car. Tennessee also has one rule most newlyweds miss, and it is a short one: you have 10 days to report a name change to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

Cost & Time at a Glance

CostAbout $25 to $55 for the core steps (certified copies, license, vehicle title). Social Security and state taxes are free.
TimeMost steps are same-day at a counter. Your new Social Security card takes 5 to 10 business days to arrive.
Deadline10 days to notify the Department of Safety and Homeland Security of your new name (Tenn. Code Ann. 55-50-333).
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Which Married Names Can You Take in Tennessee?

Your certified marriage certificate is a legal name-change document in Tennessee. For most married names, that is all you need, and there is no court involved at all:

Your marriage certificate is enoughYou need a court petition
Take your spouse’s last nameA first-name change
Move your maiden name into the middle positionA surname that is not built from either spouse’s name
A hyphenated or combined surname made from the two spouses’ surnamesAny name the marriage record itself does not create
Keep your name exactly as it is (nothing to do)

If you do need the court route, Tennessee law (Tenn. Code Ann. 29-8-101) gives circuit, probate and county courts concurrent jurisdiction, so the courthouse you actually file in depends on your county. In Davidson County it runs through Chancery Court and the form is the Petition for Adult Legal Name Change; in Shelby County you file with the Probate Court Clerk. Filing fees are real money: Shelby $166.50 in person (or $170.00 by video hearing), Davidson $159.50, Knox $90.00. Compare that to a $3 to $15 certified copy, which is why the marriage-certificate route is worth using when it covers what you want.

Step 1: Order Certified Copies of Your Marriage Certificate

Everything downstream needs this document, so start here. Tennessee gives you two places to buy it, and the difference matters:

Your county clerk (the one that issued your marriage license) is almost always cheaper and faster. Fees run from $3 in Knox County to $10 in Shelby County. See the county table below.

Tennessee Vital Records (Department of Health, Nashville) holds marriage records for the past 50 years. It charges $15.00 for the first certified copy and $15.00 for each additional copy, with no discount for ordering several at once. Records older than 50 years go back to the county clerk.

Ordering online? Tennessee Vital Records does not take online orders directly. VitalChek is the only authorized vendor, and it adds its own processing and shipping fees on top of the $15, calculated when you check out.

How long it takes: a walk-in request is handled same day; mail and online orders both run about 3 days at Vital Records. Order two certified copies. Social Security and the Driver Services Center each want to see an original, and with a 10-day license deadline you do not want to be waiting on a second order.

Step 2: Update Social Security

Here is where Tennessee newlyweds hit a wall that guides written for other states will not warn you about: Tennessee is not one of the states where Social Security lets you change your name online. Twenty-one states participate. Tennessee is not among them. If you start the online application, it will send you to an office anyway.

So file Form SS-5 by mail or in person, with your certified marriage certificate. There is no fee, and your new card (same number) arrives in about 5 to 10 business days after Social Security finishes processing. If you file by mail, send your passport rather than your driver’s license as your identity document, so you are not without the ID you drive on. The full federal process is covered on our Social Security name change guide.

Tennessee has 27 Social Security field offices. All are open 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday:

OfficeAddressCityZIPPhone
Athens921 Congress Pkwy NAthens37303(866) 964-7431
Chattanooga1290 Premier DrChattanooga37421(866) 964-0029
Clarksville119 Center Pointe DrClarksville37040(877) 531-4695
Cleveland529 Inman St WCleveland37311(855) 207-4867
Columbia1885 Shady Brook StColumbia38401(877) 876-3174
Cookeville1145 Perimeter Park DrCookeville38501(888) 717-1528
Dyersburg1070 Vendall RdDyersburg38024(877) 480-5002
Gallatin637 Commons DriveGallatin37066(866) 964-7392
Greeneville1618 Old Tusculum RoadGreeneville37745(877) 405-0416
Jacksboro140 Sharp And Perkins RdJacksboro37757(866) 964-7324
Jackson415 Cheyenne DrJackson38305(888) 383-1593
Johnson City818 Sunset DriveJohnson City37604(866) 964-5059
Kingsport2401 South Wilcox DrKingsport37660(888) 487-0161
Knoxville9031 Cross Park DrKnoxville37923(866) 331-9091
Lawrenceburg109 E Taylor StreetLawrenceburg38464(877) 405-5866
Madison140 Cude LaneMadison37115(866) 964-6302
Mcminnville900 Sparta StMcminnville37110(877) 616-2515
Memphis North3602 Austin Peay HwyMemphis38128(855) 420-8557
Memphis South3461 South Third StMemphis38109(855) 782-9155
Morristown3112 Millers Point DrMorristown37813(866) 875-6156
Murfreesboro2836 Saint Patrick CtMurfreesboro37128(866) 593-3112
Nashville120 Athens WayNashville37228(877) 808-5461
Oak Ridge565 Oak Ridge TpkeOak Ridge37830(888) 676-2954
Paris186 Commerce StParis38242(866) 698-2507
Selmer661 Mulberry AveSelmer38375(888) 397-4814
Tullahoma717 Kings LaneTullahoma37388(866) 635-0647
Union City1800 Old Troy RdUnion City38261(877) 401-5904
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Step 3: Change Your Tennessee Driver License

First, the naming: Tennessee does not have a “DMV.” Your license comes from the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, and you handle a name change in person at a Driver Services Center, because a new photo is taken.

Cost: a duplicate-license fee of $8 to $12. Tennessee scales this by how many duplicates you have already had, which is why you will see different numbers quoted. Temporary credentials are $28.00.

Deadline: 10 days. Tenn. Code Ann. 55-50-333 says that when a licensee’s name changes, they must notify the department within ten days. That is a statute, not a suggestion, and it is one of the shortest name-change deadlines in the country.

Bring: your current license, plus the original or a certified copy of your marriage certificate. Photocopies and faxes are rejected, and a court document with a copied seal or signature is not accepted.

Appointment: recommended, not required. A name change is an appointment-eligible transaction, but not every center offers appointments and walk-ins are accepted.

The Tennessee shortcut worth knowing: you do not have to wait for your new Social Security card to physically arrive before you change your license. The Driver Services Center wants your certified marriage certificate, not the card. Do file with Social Security first, because your number is verified against their records and an un-updated record can bounce you, but the plastic card can still be in the mail while you are at the counter. In most states that wait is what stretches a name change out by weeks.

Getting a REAL ID at the same time? It is the natural moment to do it. Bring three things beyond your name-change document: one proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful presence, proof of your full Social Security number, and two proofs of Tennessee residency. If your citizenship document is still in your maiden name, bring the certified documents that bridge every name change.

Step 4: Update Your Vehicle Title

Own a car? This step is missing from most Tennessee name-change guides, including the one that used to live on this page. Tennessee titles vehicles through your county clerk, not a state office:

  1. Go to your county clerk and ask for a Correction of Title. That is the transaction Tennessee uses to change the name on a certificate of title.
  2. Bring the multipurpose (corrected title) application, your existing Tennessee certificate of title, and your marriage certificate as documentation of the name change.
  3. Pay $14.00: a $5.50 state title fee plus an $8.50 county clerk fee. Individual counties can add their own service charges.
  4. There is no Tennessee deadline for the car. The 10-day rule applies to your driver license, not your title or registration, so this one can wait until the license is done.

Tennessee Marriage Certificate Fees by County

Tennessee has 95 counties and each clerk sets its own certified-copy fee, so where you married changes what you pay. These are the largest counties, with what their clerks publish:

CountySeatCertified marriage copy
KnoxKnoxville$3.00
DavidsonNashville$5.00 plus a $2.00 mail fee
HamiltonChattanooga$5.00 in person / $7.05 by mail / $8.05 online
RutherfordMurfreesboro$5.00 in person / $7.00 by mail
SumnerGallatin$7.00
ShelbyMemphis$10.00
WilliamsonFranklinCall the clerk: (615) 790-5712
MontgomeryClarksvilleCall the clerk: (931) 648-5711
WilsonLebanonCall the clerk: (615) 444-0314
BradleyClevelandCall the clerk: (423) 728-7226

Four of these clerks do not publish a certified-copy fee, so we have given you their direct number instead of a guess. Every county is cheaper than the $15 state fee, which is worth knowing before you default to Vital Records.

Tennessee State Taxes: Nothing to Do

Skip this step entirely. Tennessee has no state income tax on wages, and the Hall income tax on interest and dividends was repealed for tax periods beginning January 1, 2021 or later. The Department of Revenue tells taxpayers not to file a return for those years at all.

That means there is no state tax agency to notify and no portal step to complete. Almost every name-change guide carries a “notify your state tax agency” item. In Tennessee it does not apply to you.

Update Your Voter Registration

You do not need to re-register after a marriage name change. You update the registration you already have.

This is one step Tennessee will not let you finish online. A name change has to be signed, then mailed or taken to your county election commission.

Timing: your signed change must be received no later than 5 days before an election for it to apply to that election. (The ordinary registration deadline is 30 days before Election Day; the 5-day rule is specific to updates.)

Tennessee Name Change Mistakes to Avoid

“I’ll change my name with Social Security online.”

Not from Tennessee. Tennessee is not one of the states in Social Security’s online name-change service, so it is Form SS-5 by mail or in person. Budget a trip or an envelope.

“I have to wait for my new Social Security card before the license.”

You do not. The Driver Services Center wants your certified marriage certificate, not the card. File with Social Security first so their record matches, then go. This is the single biggest time-saver in a Tennessee name change.

“There’s no real deadline.”

There is. Tennessee gives you 10 days to notify the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, which is far shorter than the 30 or 60 days most states allow.

“A photocopy of my marriage certificate will do.”

It will not. Tennessee requires an original or a certified copy, and it will turn away a copied seal or signature. This is why you order two certified copies up front.

“My car is fine, it’s just a name.”

Your title still carries your maiden name until you file a Correction of Title at the county clerk. It is $14 and there is no deadline, but it should not be forgotten.

“I can update my voter registration online with everything else.”

A Tennessee name change on your registration has to be signed and delivered to your county election commission on paper.

Licensed Professional? Update Your Board

Tennessee splits professional licensing across several agencies, and the one people most often get wrong is nursing: it is the Department of Health, not Commerce and Insurance.

ProfessionAgencyWhat to file
Nursing and all health professionsTennessee Department of Health, Health Related BoardsForm PH-3619 (Name and Address Change Request) under Tenn. Code Ann. 63-1-106, with a copy of your marriage certificate
ContractorsTennessee Board for Licensing ContractorsThe contractor name-change application. No fee. The revised license must be approved before you contract under the new name
Insurance producers and real estateTennessee Department of Commerce and InsuranceUse the department’s name and address change process
TeachersTennessee Department of EducationIn TNCompass: open My Educator Profile, start a Name Change transaction, upload your documentation, complete the Personal Affirmation and submit

What a Tennessee Name Change Costs and How Long It Takes

The honest math for a standard married name change in Tennessee:

StepTennessee cost
Certified marriage certificate copy$3 to $10 at most county clerks, $15 at Vital Records
Social Security card (Form SS-5)Free
Driver license (Driver Services Center)$8 to $12
Vehicle title (Correction of Title)$14.00
State income taxNo step exists
Voter registrationFree

Core out-of-pocket is roughly $25 to $55 for most couples, depending on your county and how many certified copies you order. A passport update is optional and federal: free within a year of issue, otherwise $130 or more. See our passport name change guide.

Time: certified copies are same-day at the county counter; your Social Security card takes 5 to 10 business days; the license and the title are both done same-day at the counter. The whole thing is comfortably a two-errand job.

That is the entire Tennessee list. Work it in the order above, keep your two certified copies handy, and mind the 10-day window on your license. If you would rather not chase forms across three offices, our name change checklist lays out every remaining account, and you can see how the process differs in other states if you moved here recently.

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