Trying to sort out the Miss/Mrs/Ms conundrum.

rowan222

Whats the legal status of titles?

I.e Miss/Mrs/Ms? I was trying to change my title on an account as I'm getting fed up with being addressed as Ms. I mean how do you pronounce it anyway? "Mizzzzz".

I've been trying to tidy up my documentation recently, i.e. change all my accounts, driving licensee etc to Mrs…….. as I hate the title "Ms". One entity asked for marriage certificate. Well I'm not married but dont see that I should need to but maybe I'm wrong?

Anyway when I was in my teens/early 20's "Miss" might have been OK but now in mid 30's that sounds so juvenile and "Ms" I hate. So Mrs is the way to go. Do others dislike the title "Ms"?

Pollycat

My opinion is that 'MRS' refers to a married woman - which you are not.

Various Google sources support that.

From Cambridgeshire dictionary:

a title used before the family name or full name of a married woman who has no other title:

I can't comment on the legality of titles.

If I wasn't married, I wouldn't object to being referred to as 'MS'.

But…does it really matter?

Ib06

OMG … Mrs is a married woman, Miss is an unmarried woman and Ms is either.

I assume Ms is meant to be the equivalent of Mr … ie it applies before and after marriage and doesn't change with married status.

In today's world it's difficult to know if titles that change based on sex or marriage should still be used and terms like actress, hostess etc are dropped in favour of the male equivalent. Like many things it just a historical anomaly, use Ms or use Miss/Mrs as you feel suits you, but Mrs would be used to indicate marriage.

born_again

Ms is the female version of Mr. Which is a generic title that does not say married or single.

rowan222

Yes I know the history/traditional usage but it seems now its more of an adult vs child distinction. I know of women who use Mrs who are not married or are divorced.

Anyway as an adult woman I dont want to be addressed as Miss and i hate the title Ms

WeeSleekit

And Mr is not pronounced "Murr" is it? Ms is short for Miss or Mrs and handily doesn't have a flag suggesting your marital status.

Jemma01

Mrs is my problem. How does it even get elected out of all titles if I didn't explicitly mention it. I prefer Miss, has nothing to do with age, but Ms doesn't bother me either. However, when I see Mrs, I change it to Dr.

The only right way is, if you don't know and need a title, it is Ms.

Ib06

Well I guess for males there is Mr or Mstr (Master) for adults and children… and for women you have Miss which is used for children and adults and Mrs for married females.

I guess if you don't like/want Ms then you're stuck with Miss, unless you can get in the House of
Lords and become Lady or Baroness…

I am not really sure we need titles but as I said earlier it's a historical anomaly/tradition

flaneurs_lobster

Titles have no legal status, so (eg) calling yourself "Miss" does not mean that you are declaring yourself unmarried.

However they do form part of your "official" identity, so to avoid confusion and delays it's a good idea not to use more than one (at least on official documentation and applications).

Which entity asked for a marriage certificate?

rowan222

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81996925#Comment_81996925

Yes that what I thought. So I'm just trying to standardise everything with Mrs.

It was a shareholder investment management company. I actually never gave them a title and at some point they inserted the title Ms which I've tole them to change to Mrs.

mebu60

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81996894#Comment_81996894

My partner uses Mrs and we are not married. She is divorced.

A friend in her mid 40s uses Miss. She has been divorced since her early 20s.

As previously asked by @flaneurs_lobster , which entity asked for a marriage certificate to use the Mrs honorific?