Title change

Mr_Toad

mahoney wrote: »

I got married recently and kept my own name. I thought I wouldn't need to change any documents, however, now I am now wondering as I am no longer a miss, do I need to officially change my title to mrs?
Is it enough to change my name to mrs as new things come up, or should I do a blanket change on everything where I may be held as a miss. On some things, ie passport it doesn't specify miss or mrs.
I'm getting paranoid lately as when I do new things I put Miss, but then when compared with previous docs it seems wrong as one is miss and the other mrs, but I guess this will always been the change after marrying whether you change just the title or surname and title.

Thanks

People misuse titles these days and they are not really that relevant.

If you are Jane Smith and you marry John Brown you have the legal right to either do nothing and keep your maiden name or you can take your husbands name and use the marriage certificate as proof.

If you take you keep you maiden name you are Jane Brown or Mrs John Brown you are never Mrs Jane Brown.

If you keep you maiden name you are Jane Smith and you are still Mrs John Brown you are never Mrs Jane Smith.

That is why there is no Miss or Mrs on your passport as the name is all important not your married status.

Mojisola

masonn wrote: »

People misuse titles these days and they are not really that relevant.

If you are Jane Smith and you marry John Brown you have the legal right to either do nothing and keep your maiden name or you can take your husbands name and use the marriage certificate as proof.

If you keep you maiden name you are Jane Smith and you are still Mrs John Brown you are never Mrs Jane Smith.

You have the legal right to call yourself whatever you want as long as you don't intend to deceive people for illegal purposes.

I have never been "Mrs John Brown" - that's an outdated Victorian tradition.

Mr_Toad

Mojisola wrote: »

You have the legal right to call yourself whatever you want as long as you don't intend to deceive people for illegal purposes.

Absolutely.

I have never been "Mrs John Brown" - that's an outdated Victorian tradition.

It may be outdated and Victorian but the honorific Mrs means precisely that, the wife of John Brown which is why some people, like yourself, do not use it and so many don't understand it's meaning and use it incorrectly as in Mrs Jane Brown.

I have never liked it, to me it has overtones of ownership and we have moved on since the Victorian notion of marriage.

System

masonn wrote: »

I have never liked it, to me it has overtones of ownership and we have moved on since the Victorian notion of marriage.

But the custom lingers on, and can still catch out the unwary.
An older recently-widowed woman might be very offended at being addressed as Mrs Jane Brown, because it used to imply she was divorced, whereas Mrs John Brown could be widowed. Like it or not, older people can be offended.

Mojisola

masonn wrote: »

It may be outdated and Victorian but the honorific Mrs means precisely that, the wife of John Brown which is why some people, like yourself, do not use it and so many don't understand it's meaning and use it incorrectly as in Mrs Jane Brown.

I have never liked it, to me it has overtones of ownership and we have moved on since the Victorian notion of marriage.

Calling yourself Mrs Jane Brown isn't incorrect - it just means you're not complying with someone else's rules. Mrs = I'm married, Jane Brown = my name.

Edwardia

Having lived in Canada where this is often practised (and in USA) I had my new passport in the name Flossy MAIDEN MARRIED . All I had to do is get and older relative to do a declaration as well as my own that I had been known as Flossy Maiden Married since I had married. Once I had the passport the bank etc changed my account name without hassle. Didn't need to do a deed poll. I did check with Passport Agency first.

It all boils down to how you sign the marriage certificate. If you sign it in maiden name you can add his to yours, keep yours or take his. If you sign it Flossy Married then that becomes your new married name and you can't change it without a deed poll.

Pamela Stephenson became Pamela Stephenson Connolly, Lydia Clarke became Lydia Clarke Heston (wife of Charlton) and Hilary Rodham became Hilary Rodham Clinton.

I had my bank take title off my cheque books bank card etc. These days any kind of title is an anachronism.

Mojisola

Edwardia wrote: »

It all boils down to how you sign the marriage certificate. If you sign it in maiden name you can add his to yours, keep yours or take his. If you sign it Flossy Married then that becomes your new married name and you can't change it without a deed poll.

You can't sign your marriage certificate in your married name - you have to sign it with the name you are known by. That might be your maiden name or, if you are widowed or divorced, your previous married name.

claire16c

Mojisola wrote: »

You can't sign your marriage certificate in your married name - you have to sign it with the name you are known by. That might be your maiden name or, if you are widowed or divorced, your previous married name.

I think she must mean in Canada.

Im guessing because I got married in America and you sign the wedding certificate in your new name. Of course Canada could be different but it sounds the same from what shes saying.

But doesnt apply to here.