Has it happened to you?

[Bumble Bee]

I got married in November, but never got the certified copy of my license to change my name. I called the licensing people a couple of weeks ago and they said they never received my marriage license from the officiant. The officiant said he sent it in the end of November/beginning of December. This means that the license is lost in the mail and I am not considered legally married until we fill out a new license, per the licensing department. Has this happened to you? How did you wade through the hassle? All of my PTO went to wedding and honeymoon, so I can't afford to take days off work to drive down to the licensing place and iron it out like I tried last week (officiant copy was not accepted as valid proof of marriage).

 

[WolfGate]

I'm sure what you have to do would vary by state (assuming you are US). Perhaps do a google search for your state or call the licensing people again and ask them what steps need to be taken to correct. I would think this could be handled without having to go to their office. Perhaps even the officiant could call the licensing people and ask what he needs to do.

 

[snoochface]

I got two copies of my marriage certificate from the officiant right after the wedding, and he had a third copy to send in to the state. If something had happened to his copy, we had two ourselves that were identical and we could have provided one. It does vary from state to state, but I would think they would be able to tell you exactly what needs to be done and by whom (by phone) so you can save some time running around to take care of it.

 

[akmom]

It took us three months before ours was processed, I believe. Government functions always take forever. It doesn't matter how long it takes to process; your marriage becomes legally valid on the day your certificate says you married, not the day it is entered into the system (assuming you had a marriage license and your officiant was properly authorized).

 

[Bumble Bee]

The only copies we were given were the legal document, the officiant copy, and the one that gets framed and means nothing but sentiment. I had to go down and get another legal document to fill out again but our witnesses are out of state so I may have to do new ones that were at the wedding. The licensing office told me that I'm not legally married til they have the comment in office.

 

[akmom]

Yeah, he probably means they can't issue a name change on your license until it's official. But your legal date of marriage will still be retroactively entered as your wedding date.

 

[Bumble Bee]

My dad sent this to my husband and me and asked if it's my autobiography

 

[evoeth]

D