New Jersey

Marriage license, name change and passport

So I have several questions since we are about 6 weeks away from our big day.

1.  marriage licence - I'm reading that we go to apply within 30 days before our wedding date (8/18) so we can go as early as 7/18?

2.  my permanent address is not in the same city as the church we are getting married in, so which town to we go to apply for the marriage license? 

3.  i heard that you declare whether you want to change your name on the marriage license application, is this true? 

4. if #3 is true, then how would that work if we leave the day after for our HM and the trip and passport are under my maiden name? 

5.  how soon do you get your marriage license/certificate? 

6.  i'm getting mix responses from previous posts how there is a time as to when you have to change your name?

Any help would be really great, I'm just confused and since we are going on our HM for 2 weeks, I just want to make sure that things are squared away and we won't have any prob on our HM.

thanks ladies.  
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Re: Marriage license, name change and passport

  • I believe you are right about the 30 day time from.  Dont wait until the last minute though.

    We applied for the license in the town we live in.  We picked it up and gave it to the church.  The church then didwhatever with it and then we picked up the license from the town the church was in.

    When we applied for our license we didn't tell them anything about whether or not I was going to change my name. 

    I traveled for my honeymoon in my maiden name and didn't do any name changing until we got back.

    We picked up our marriage license a few days after we got back from our honeymoon.  I picked up 3 certiified copes ($10 each).  We had to send copies to various places.  Social Security required the certiified copy.  I haven't changed my passport yet so I am not sure if I have to mail one for my passport but I def didn't need 3.  You can always get an extra copy if you need one but no reason to go overboard.

    I dont know if there is a time frame with changing your name.  Some things are easier to change then others.  Believe it or not... but PayPal gave me the hardest time.  You have to fax your license and marriage certiifcate but they kept telling me it was too dark.  I am sorry but when you fax your marriage certificate it doesn't come out perfect.  LOL.

    Good luck with everything.  Make a list of everything you need to change your name with and cross off as you go.  Even if you think you are done with it all, something else will come up.

  • 1. A marriage license is valid for 30 days from when you pick it up, so you can't go any earlier. My registrar suggested getting it 2 wks before, just in case anything happened that would postpone the wedding. You don't want to wait to re-do the application.

    2. While there seems to be a lot of conflicting reports, the NJ Health dept website says to go to the town you live in, not the town you're getting married in. (LINK)

    3. No. You state your current names on the application and then they are printed for you on the license. Your maiden name will appear on your certificate also. You change your name at the SSI office. 

    4. N/A

    5. My license was available within 3 days, but I was told to wait to 2wks before the wedding, as I mentioned above. Each office is different, so you have to ask yours. After the wedding, I went in to the office of the town I was married in (your officiant files it there) and picked it up 3 copies within 10 minutes. They charge.

    6. Nope. You can change your name at any time after you're married & have your marriage certificate. The longer you wait, the less likely you are to want to go through the hassle, though. 

    HTH!
  • mrsR12mrsR12 member
    First Comment
    THANK YOU!!!! your responses were extremely thorough and helpful!!!!
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  • rlavachrlavach member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    edited June 2012
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_marriage-license-name-change-and-passport?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:aab1ae09-aba6-4c51-9fe7-020d189d1237Post:e327dece-cabb-41e6-a64d-29f811b7d7a6">Re: Marriage license, name change and passport</a>:
    [QUOTE]THANK YOU!!!! your responses were extremely thorough and helpful!!!!
    Posted by mrsR12[/QUOTE]
    You're welcome. I knew keeping that Google Doc on marriage licenses would come in handy! <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" title="Wink" />
  • What rlavach said.Smile
     
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  • You go for the application in the town you live in. The application is then mailed to the officiant. At the rehearsal, you, your husband, best man and maid of honor will all sign it.  Then after the ceremony your officiant will submit it to the town where you were married. It will take a little while to process and you can't change your name until you get the official license.
    Travel under your maiden name. There is no other way to do it.

    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_marriage-license-name-change-and-passport?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:aab1ae09-aba6-4c51-9fe7-020d189d1237Post:8b85b445-aaed-4728-b76b-31513b1baabd">Re: Marriage license, name change and passport</a>:
    [QUOTE]What rlavach said.
    Posted by HobokenBride2012[/QUOTE]
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