FleaOfTheChill wrote:
IsabellaLinton wrote:
I changed my surname when I got married and again when I got unmarried. Pain in the arse. It took at least a year each time with all sorts of government red tape. Then I also changed my legal name after trauma. It's so complicated and frustrating. Years later, things still pop up that I need to change so I'm not held in limbo legally. That being said, I think you should do it, 100%. Don't bear a name you don't want especially if you don't have children.
That's what I was worried about. I have no doubt that things will show up later, needing my attention, and I'm so bad with paperwork and managing stress... meh. But I do plan to go ahead with it all anyhow. I'm hoping that if I keep every piece of paperwork from every step along the way, that it won't be too overwhelming me to me down the road if and when issues pop up. I think the rewards here outweigh the risks and then some.
Good thinking. People ask how it could possibly take me a year, but it's because of my lame executive function. Phone calls to government (NOPE), not understanding forms, needing to do the steps in the right order, or not having some paper that you need to get the other paper. Then of course everything bureaucratic takes forever on their end, too. The only difficulty I had after changing back to my maiden name was that I don't match either of my kids. We have three different surnames lol. Flying with either of them when they were under 18 was a pain because I needed to take extra documentation to prove I wasn't a kidnapper (the long-form birth certificate with me listed as mother --another application I had to do --, and then all of my own change of name papers and marriage / divorce / custody papers -- and then written permission from her father to leave the country). In that respect you're very lucky not to have children together.
It's very liberating to get your maiden name back. I remember being so happy to be myself again - even though I loved my other surname and still kind of miss the sound of it.
_________________
I never give you my number, I only give you my situation.
Beatles