Changing your name after marriage in Connecticut
What Connecticut asks for, where your marriage certificate comes from, and the order that works. Every figure below is dated and linked to the agency that publishes it.
To change your name after marriage in Connecticut you need a certified marriage certificate, then Social Security, then Connecticut DMV.
Social Security comes first. Every state checks your new name against its record before issuing a license.
In Connecticut, a certified marriage certificate comes from either the state vital records office or the county that issued your marriage license.
The state office charges $20.00 for one copy.
The marriage certificate Connecticut wants to see
This is the part that differs by situation. Everything downstream of it is the same sequence whichever document you hold.
| What | Value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where to get it | either the state vital records office or the county that issued your marriage license A Connecticut marriage license is filed with the vital records office of the town where the marriage took place. A certified copy can be obtained from that town or from the state office, at the same price. | Connecticut Department of Public Health, State Vital Records Office, or your town vital records office | |
| What a copy costs | $20.00 The same $20 fee applies whether you order from the town where the marriage happened or from the state office. | Connecticut Department of Public Health, State Vital Records Office, or your town vital records office | |
| What Connecticut DMV charges | $30.00 Name change on a driver license or non-driver ID card $30. A DMV Express location — AAA offices and some credit unions — may add a convenience fee of up to $8 on top. | Connecticut DMV |
If you married in another state, order from that state instead. The record sits where the license was filed, not where you live now.
What after marriage changes about it
- In Connecticut, a certified marriage certificate comes from either the state vital records office or the county that issued your marriage license — Connecticut Department of Public Health, State Vital Records Office, or your town vital records office.
- The Connecticut state office charges $20.00 for one certified copy.
- A Connecticut marriage license is filed with the vital records office of the town where the marriage took place. A certified copy can be obtained from that town or from the state office, at the same price.
- Photocopies are refused, and so are religious marriage certificates — Connecticut names them specifically.
- The license is the permission to marry and is issued before the wedding. The certificate is the record of it and is issued afterward. Agencies want the certificate.
- Social Security accepts a certified marriage document as evidence of the new name on form SS-5.
Source: Connecticut Department of Public Health, State Vital Records Office, or your town vital records office · checked
The sequence in Connecticut
- Get a certified marriage certificate. Order more than one — several agencies want to see it and not all return it quickly.
- Submit form SS-5 to Social Security. It is free, and it has to be first.
- Apply at Connecticut DMV once the Social Security record has updated.
- Update your passport, then your vehicle title, then your voter registration.
- Tell your bank, your employer, your insurers, your utilities and your subscriptions.
Questions people ask
- What does Connecticut accept as proof of a name change after marriage?
- Connecticut DMV asks for: A completed Change of Name Request (form E-78); Your current driver’s license or non-driver ID card; Certified documentation of the change — marriage license, civil union certificate, divorce decree, or probate court documents.
- Is a marriage license the same as a marriage certificate?
- No. The license is the permission to marry and is issued before the wedding. The certificate is the record of it and is issued afterward. Agencies want the certificate.
- Can I go to Connecticut DMV before Social Security?
- Do Social Security first — it’s the record most agencies check against, so getting it done first is what keeps the rest in step. A few states require it outright and say so on their own page.
All Connecticut name change requirements · The national guide to changing your name after marriage
Everything above is free. The rest of the list is the work.
You can do all of this yourself with the links on this page — every underlying form is free. What we sell is the evening back: the official forms filled in from your answers, the steps in Connecticut in the order that works, and a written letter for every bank, employer and insurer you have to tell.
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