How to Change Your Name After Marriage in Massachusetts
Here's exactly how to change your name after marriage in Massachusetts: the right documents, the right order, and the official Massachusetts links you'll need.
Checked against official Massachusetts and federal sources in August 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom of this page.
The Massachusetts order of operations
The winning sequence in Massachusetts is: certified marriage certificate → Social Security (free, first) → wait 24–48 hours → Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) → passport → notify everyone. Each step verifies against the one before it, so order matters.
Every Massachusetts step, in the right order
This page covers name change after marriage. Your free checklist puts it with the other agencies, sequenced for Massachusetts, so nothing gets done out of order.
Step 1: Your certified marriage certificate
Order 3–5 certified copies from the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics (RVRS), Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Photocopies aren't accepted.
Good to know for Massachusetts: State copies are ordered through the RVRS via Mass.gov; alternatively, order directly from the city/town clerk where the marriage was registered (e.g. Boston or Cambridge city clerk).
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 Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) (typically $25 (Driver's License/ID Amendment Fee)). Bring:
- Certified marriage certificate (proof of legal name change)
- Current Massachusetts driver's license or ID card
- Proof of Social Security Number (SSA card, W-2, or 1099)
- Completed RMV license/ID application form
- Proof of residency (only if address also changed)
Step 5–6: Passport, voter registration & everyone else
Update your passport, then your Massachusetts voter registration (Registration/update/party-change deadline is 5:00 p.m. on the 10th day before any election or town meeting. Online update requires an existing MA driver's license or state ID.), and finally your bank, employer, and insurers.
Massachusetts 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 agencyMassachusetts: ordering a certified marriage certificate
- State agencyMassachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV): name change on a license or ID
- State agencyMassachusetts official voter registration page
- The lawM.G.L. c. 51, § 26Registration closes at 5 p.m. on the 10th day before an election.
- 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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