How to Change Your Name After Marriage in Missouri
Here's exactly how to change your name after marriage in Missouri: the right documents, the right order, and the official Missouri links you'll need.
Checked against official Missouri and federal sources in August 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom of this page.
The Missouri order of operations
The winning sequence in Missouri is: certified marriage certificate → Social Security (free, first) → wait 24–48 hours → Missouri Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle and Driver Licensing Division → passport → notify everyone. Each step verifies against the one before it, so order matters.
Every Missouri step, in the right order
This page covers name change after marriage. Your free checklist puts it with the other agencies, sequenced for Missouri, so nothing gets done out of order.
Step 1: Your certified marriage certificate
Order 3–5 certified copies from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Vital Records (state office issues only a "Certified Statement Relating to Marriage" - the actual certified marriage certificate must come from the County Recorder of Deeds where the marriage license was issued). Photocopies aren't accepted.
Good to know for Missouri: State Bureau of Vital Records fee is $15 per record (checked 2026-08) (order in person, by notarized mail, or via phone/online through VitalChek). For the actual certified marriage certificate accepted by the DMV, contact the Recorder of Deeds in the Missouri county where the marriage license was obtained.
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 Missouri Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle and Driver Licensing Division (typically the standard license fee (confirm the amount with the agency)). Bring:
- Certified Marriage Certificate (from County Recorder of Deeds where marriage license was issued) or certified court order
- Current Missouri driver license/ID
- Proof of Social Security number
- Proof of Missouri residential address (for REAL ID compliance)
Step 5–6: Passport, voter registration & everyone else
Update your passport, then your Missouri voter registration (Tell your local election authority about the name change before the election; the Secretary of State's guidance is to have your form postmarked by the fourth Wednesday before it. Missouri law (RSMo 115.167) sets no cutoff for the notice, and lets you vote once under your old name if you tell the election judges at the polling place first.), and finally your bank, employer, and insurers.
Missouri 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 agencyMissouri: ordering a certified marriage certificate
- State agencyMissouri Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle and Driver Licensing Division: name change on a license or ID
- State agencyMissouri official voter registration page
- The lawRSMo § 115.167A voter with a lawful name change must notify the election authority, and may vote once under the previous name. The law sets no cutoff for the notice.
- 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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