What if I don't change my name?

M&R7111 · August 2010

This was a question I had after courtney's "when to cash the check" question:

People said that it may take time for the bride to legally change her name and cash a check with her new name.

I'm never changing my last name. I know MANY people in FI's and my families will probably assume I will and put FI's last name onto mine while writing the check. I also know some banks will be fine with this, but...

What if they aren't? What if we can't find a bank to cash or deposit our checks written to the wrong name?

tenofcups4me · August 2010

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I didn't change my name when DH and I got married and I didn't change my name the first time I was married. I had NO problems cashing any checks for either wedding. In both cases, we already had a joint account. And in both cases, I signed the check however it was made out (the only time I ever used either of their last names!). So if it was to Jane Doe and John Smith, I signed Jane Doe. If it was to Mr. and Mrs. John Smith (gag), I signed Jane Doe Smith.

I've heard on rare occassions of banks giving someone a hard time, but I don't think it's common.

We also brought in all the checks at the same time -- when you walk in with a handful of checks, it's pretty clear you've just gotten married and I don't think most bank tellers are looking for ways to give you a hard time.

[Deleted User] · August 2010

It was a PITA for us. A lot of people wrote the checks out to Mr. and Mrs. H Last Name, or H First Name and My First Name, H Last Name (sorry if that was confusing). Basically I had to go to his bank with him and we both had to sign the checks, and I had to be listed on his account.

A few were just my name with his last name, and when I brought them to my bank and explained I had just got married they wanted to see a copy of the marriage license. once I proved it was his last name they had no problem cashing them.

[Deleted User] · August 2010

We had no problems at all. I did change my name, but when we deposited them, nothing was official yet of course. I just signed my new married last name and deposited them into H account, which became our joint account.

Usually banks don't care for deposits, it is obviously just withdrawls in which you would have to be on the account.

LesPaul · August 2010

Fortunately, I got to keep my old driver's license, so I could identify myself by either name. I found it was a good idea to carry a copy of the marriage certificate for a while, in case there was a quesiton. The bank was fine with checks in either name when I showed it to them.

fangsiting · August 2010

I didn't change my name and we didn't have any problems. H deposited most of them in his account, but I did deposit one into my account that was addressed to Dr. & Mrs. His Name. I signed my name and deposited it in the ATM. The ATM never gives you a hard time.

rubyjem00 · August 2010

I didn't change my name and I only had one slight issue with a check that was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. H Lastname - but that was my fault because I signed the back of the check with my last name. Oops. Once they realized it was going into a joint account with both of our names, they let it go and were able to desposit it.

I would just keep your marriage certificate closeby because that will be the easiest way to clear up any confusion.

katiewhompus · August 2010

My bank was a total pain about this (one of the reasons I'm switching to my local). We could not deposit the "Mr and Mrs Whompus" checks unless we were both present and I had changed my last name. We had to wait the 1 month until everything was set, and I called the writers to let them know that the check was being cashed but the bank was being slow.
It was also drama because my grandmother sent us a check, to "Mr and Mrs Wompus" 4 months before the wedding, so she kept asking why it wasn't cashed.
It worked in reverse too. My mom accidently wrote a check to "Kristi maidenname" (25 year habits are hard to break) after we were married and the bank refused to cash it, even though I had the account under that name for over 4 years, and that name was still in their notes.

kristinanddan · August 2010

My name wasn't changed when we deposited the checks, so for anything written out to Mr. and Mrs. HisName, we just wrote 'For Deposit Only' on the back with his acct number and everything was fine.

Beachy730 · August 2010

Its pretty funny actually how many different names we had written on the checks we received. Some were to just me, some just to H, some to H and my maiden name, but most were to mr & mrs H's name.

I had to go into my bank with my marriage certificate. First they changed my name on my account and then let me deposit all of them. I've also still received checks in my maiden name and it was no problem depositing it.

I've only changed my name on some things so far. A lot I am just waiting until we move and have our new address so I can call and change my name and address at once. I changed it through social security, and my military ID is in my married name, but my drivers license is still in my maiden name. So I can use either one as ID depending on when I need it.

tenofcups4me · August 2010

I just wanted to add -- I think this is a lot easier when you already have a joint account with your FH. And I talked about cashing the checks earlier, but I really meant deposit -- I do think actually cashing them would have been harder.

JennaV26 · August 2010

Your bank will deposit them but you'll both have to sign the check if they put "Mr. and Mrs. So and So." I didn't change my name for a few weeks after the wedding and though the majority of all of our checks had Mr. and Mrs. HisLastName our bank still deposited them. No prob!

M&R7111 · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_dont-change-name?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:27dec419-5041-427b-9c00-680efdfeb78fPost:7b687360-5001-444a-8def-7f491ca9c46e">Re: What if I don't change my name?</a>:
[QUOTE]I just wanted to add -- I think this is a lot easier when you already have a joint account with your FH. And I talked about cashing the checks earlier, but I really meant deposit -- I do think actually cashing them would have been harder.
Posted by tenofcups4me[/QUOTE]

True, as I'm reading all of your answers I was thinking "OK, so a joint account is the way to go". No one seemd to have issues if they had a joint account!

katiewhompus · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_dont-change-name?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:27dec419-5041-427b-9c00-680efdfeb78fPost:5c8afe19-b21e-4ae9-a969-f717af5df2d0">Re: What if I don't change my name?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: What if I don't change my name? : True, as I'm reading all of your answers I was thinking "OK, so a joint account is the way to go". No one seemd to have issues if they had a joint account!
Posted by M&R7111[/QUOTE]

We had a joint. My bank is just that much of a pita (or at least the tellers we dealt with). Because it was a joint they required both of us to be there making the deposit. They suck.

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