How to Change Your Name After Marriage in Maine
Here's exactly how to change your name after marriage in Maine: the right documents, the right order, and the official Maine links you'll need.
Checked against official Maine and federal sources in August 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom of this page.
The Maine order of operations
The winning sequence in Maine is: certified marriage certificate → Social Security (free, first) → wait 24–48 hours → Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Department of the Secretary of State → passport → notify everyone. Each step verifies against the one before it, so order matters.
Every Maine step, in the right order
This page covers name change after marriage. Your free checklist puts it with the other agencies, sequenced for Maine, so nothing gets done out of order.
Step 1: Your certified marriage certificate
Order 3–5 certified copies from the Data, Research and Vital Statistics (DRVS), Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC). Photocopies aren't accepted.
Step 2–4: Social Security, then the DMV
File the free SS-5 with Social Security first, wait 24–48 hours, then update your license at the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Department of the Secretary of State (typically an amount that depends on your situation (confirm with the agency)). Bring:
- Certified marriage certificate (or divorce decree/court order showing name change)
- Current Maine driver's license or state ID
- Completed BMV application/request for duplicate license with new name and signature
- Proof of Maine residency (required for REAL ID)
- Social Security card updated with new name (recommended to update first, per SSA)
Mind the clock: Maine asks you to update your license within 30 days of your legal name change, so don't park this step for later. The law: 29-A M.R.S. § 1407.
Step 5–6: Passport, voter registration & everyone else
Update your passport, then your Maine voter registration (Online voter registration updates (including name changes) must be submitted at least 21 days before Election Day; written/mail notice of a name or address change must reach the registrar before the close of registration prior to election day (Maine Title 21-A Sec. 129)), and finally your bank, employer, and insurers.
Maine FAQs
Sources
We checked the details on this page against the official sources below in August 2026. Rules and fees change, so confirm anything you are about to act on at the agency's own page. The legal citations were last re-read against their sources in October 2026. How we verify.
- State agencyMaine: ordering a certified marriage certificate
- State agencyMaine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Department of the Secretary of State: name change on a license or ID
- State agencyMaine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Department of the Secretary of State: appointments
- The law29-A M.R.S. § 1407Notify the Secretary of State of a name change within 30 days.
- State agencyMaine official voter registration page
- The law21-A M.R.S. § 121-AOnline applications are due by 5 p.m. on the 21st day before the election; mail by close of business that day.
- FederalSocial Security Administration: change your name
- FederalSocial Security Administration: Form SS-5
- FederalU.S. Department of State: change or correct a passport
NameWright is not a government agency and this is not legal advice. We prepare your paperwork; you file it.
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