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1. CHANGING YOUR NAME ON MARRIAGE 2. REVERTING FROM A MARRIED SURNAME TO A MAIDEN SURNAME OR FORMER MARRIED SURNAME 3. COPYRIGHT - PRINT AND MUSIC (being prepared for uploading) 1. CHANGING YOUR NAME ON MARRIAGE The following information has been provided by Val Edyvean, Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in South Australia - 8 June 2010. Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Office - Office of Consumer and Business Affairs - 08 882049599 The adoption by a woman of her husband's surname on marriage is a widely practised custom in Australia. However, there is no legal obligation to do so, and some women continue to use their own surname after marriage. When a woman who has married in Australia decides to take her husband's surname, there is no need to register the change of name. Production of the marriage certificate (see Note) and a statement by the woman that she is now known by her husband's surname is generally accepted as sufficient evidence. Women who have married overseas will find that this is not adequate for some agencies - for example Passport Australia for a passport, and some Registration and Licensing agencies (change of name or license or car registration). In these cases the woman may be required by those agencies to produce a Change of Name certificate (see Note), and will therefore need to undertake a formal change of name process with the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Office. Less commonly, a man may decide to adopt his wife's surname on marriage. Similar arrangements apply in that case. If both parties decide to adopt a hyphenated or composite name after marriage, both will need to do a formal change of name if they need to prove to authorities that they are both using the altered name. (In such cases, sometimes the groom changes his name before the wedding and then the bride adopts that new name, requiring only one party to do a Change of Name.) The us of the terms Miss, Ms and Mrs are again social conventions - Miss is generally used by single women, Ms is non-specific and Mrs denotes a married woman, or a woman who has been married. If Mary has been Miss Smith before she married John Bloggs, she can is she wishes start to refer to herself as Mrs Bloggs. You may notice the long-standing convention of referring to a couple as Mr and Mrs John Bloggs (and the woman as Mrs John Bloggs) is fading away, with common usage moving to 'Mary and John Bloggs', or 'Ms M and Mr J Bloggs'. Mary may be referred to as 'Mrs Mary Bloggs'. Public service usage is to use 'Ms' for women unless they specifically describe themselves as Miss or Mrs - but there may still be cases where as a courtesy a public servant addresses an older woman, known to be married or widowed, as Mrs. If in doubt, we ask their preference. There is no need for anyone to advise any government agency of a change in the preferred style of address, although lots of forms still have a list of options. Whenever anyone who owns a car and/or has a driver license does a name change, they should contact the Motor Registration and Driver Licensing authorities to advise of the change. In SA this should be done within 14 days. These agencies require proof of the change of name, either in the form of a Change of Name certificate (if a person changes their name via a formal BDM procedure) or with an official Marriage certificate issued by BDM in the case of a change of name on marriage. The Form 15 certificate provided at the ceremony is not acceptable. If Mary own real property in her own name, she should also advise the Lands Title Office on changing her name so the title deed can be amended. If Mary wants a new passport in her husband's name, she will need to produce an official certificate along with her application. Again the Form 15 certificate is not acceptable. 2. REVERTING FROM A MARRIED SURNAME TO A MAIDEN SURNAME OR FORMER MARRIED SURNAME A woman who has adopted her husband's name may wish to revert to the use of her maiden surname or to a surname she had from a former marriage id she is divorced or separated, or for other reasons. She does not have to be divorced or even separated to do this. There is no general requirement for a declaration and registration of change of name. It ought to be sufficient for a woman to produce her birth certificate and/or marriage certificate (s) (see Note), and to state that she is now using her maiden surname or former married surname, as the case may be. Ultimately, the Government agency or commercial organisation concerned has the right to determine what evidence it requires of a person's name or change of name in its particular circumstances. That may require to to provide evidence such as your birth certificate (see Note) and marriage certificate (see Note) to the Passports Office, or certified copies to businesses with whom you deal. You should not have to show evidence of divorce or death to support reverting to a previous name, as these are not required conditions. The Births, Deaths and Marriages registration Office is willing to discuss any problems that arise in reverting to a maiden surname or former married surname. NOTE: Most agencies require official certificates issued by the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Office. 3. COPYRIGHT - PRINT AND MUSIC (being prepared for uploading)
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