I am a 69 year old white woman in Florida. I was born in Manhattan to two Alabama natives while my father was in law school at NYU. My given name is Mary Carolyn Hines, but I was always called Carolyn. I got married in Tallahassee in 1989. I asked the clerk at the Courthouse, who was an acquaintance of mine, how to go about changing my name. She told me just to start using it, that there was no formal procedure required. I started using the name Carolyn Hines Mikell. In fairness, she may not have realized that I was dropping my first name when she advised me. But I knew many women who had done the same. What happened next is something that no one today can believe. I worked in the Geology Department at Florida State. The secretary in the department actually changed my name with Social Security to Carolyn Hines Mikell without my request or permission. Honestly, at the time I thought she had done me a great favor by saving me some paperwork.
For several years, I had no problem with the situation. I used my marriage license to change the name on my drivers license, and that ID worked for almost everything. Back before everything was so computerized, people would look at my birth certificate and my marriage license, note that Carolyn was my original given name, and approve anything. Common sense prevailed. Then came 9/11 and Real ID. The first time I had to renew my drivers license (in the same name I had on it for more than a decade) they would not renew it because the names on my birth certificate and Social Security card did not match. I researched as best I could. I paid an extra fee for a temporary extension. It was going to cost me $1000 plus attorney fees to get a legal name change in Florida. So I applied for a passport using my social security card. The DMV then accepted my passport and social security card as valid ID and issued my renewal.
My NY birth certificate is very faded, so I wrote to the records office in Manhattan to get a duplicate. They told me they couldn’t issue one because the name on my credit card wasn’t the same as the name on my birth certificate. They reassured me that one of my parents (both deceased) could order one for me. When we had a chance to vacation in NY, I took all my paperwork and visited their office. They said I needed a court order changing my name. So now I am back to paying over $1000 to use the same name I have used for almost 40 years.
So this whole ID thing isn’t as clear cut as some would have you think. Especially for married women. Thanks for reading. Tell your Congressman to vote no on the SAVE act
Speaking of the New Yorker, I think if they had a way you could just subscribe to the cartoons they'd boost sales into the millions again.
I am a 69 year old white woman in Florida. I was born in Manhattan to two Alabama natives while my father was in law school at NYU. My given name is Mary Carolyn Hines, but I was always called Carolyn. I got married in Tallahassee in 1989. I asked the clerk at the Courthouse, who was an acquaintance of mine, how to go about changing my name. She told me just to start using it, that there was no formal procedure required. I started using the name Carolyn Hines Mikell. In fairness, she may not have realized that I was dropping my first name when she advised me. But I knew many women who had done the same. What happened next is something that no one today can believe. I worked in the Geology Department at Florida State. The secretary in the department actually changed my name with Social Security to Carolyn Hines Mikell without my request or permission. Honestly, at the time I thought she had done me a great favor by saving me some paperwork.
For several years, I had no problem with the situation. I used my marriage license to change the name on my drivers license, and that ID worked for almost everything. Back before everything was so computerized, people would look at my birth certificate and my marriage license, note that Carolyn was my original given name, and approve anything. Common sense prevailed. Then came 9/11 and Real ID. The first time I had to renew my drivers license (in the same name I had on it for more than a decade) they would not renew it because the names on my birth certificate and Social Security card did not match. I researched as best I could. I paid an extra fee for a temporary extension. It was going to cost me $1000 plus attorney fees to get a legal name change in Florida. So I applied for a passport using my social security card. The DMV then accepted my passport and social security card as valid ID and issued my renewal.
My NY birth certificate is very faded, so I wrote to the records office in Manhattan to get a duplicate. They told me they couldn’t issue one because the name on my credit card wasn’t the same as the name on my birth certificate. They reassured me that one of my parents (both deceased) could order one for me. When we had a chance to vacation in NY, I took all my paperwork and visited their office. They said I needed a court order changing my name. So now I am back to paying over $1000 to use the same name I have used for almost 40 years.
So this whole ID thing isn’t as clear cut as some would have you think. Especially for married women. Thanks for reading. Tell your Congressman to vote no on the SAVE act