Hi All,

My fiancee and I are thinking about getting married in the Virgin
Islands.  I may come back to Google Answers for a little help in
getting the basic details of that nailed down.  For now, though, I
have a simple question.

When filling out a marriage license for the Territorial Court of the
USVI or for any Court in the United States (for that matter), how
should a bride who is changing her name fill out the license?  Does
she put her new surname where it says "Name (first, middle, last)?" 
I'm basically confused as to what the technicalities are for a woman
to change her name via marriage license.

Use the USVI marriage license as an example (the following are section
titles).  If my fiancee's name is Jane Middle Roe and my name is John
Robert Doe, what should the following look like (assuming she wants to
be married as Jane Middle Doe or Jane Roe Doe)?

8a.  BRIDE'S NAME (First, Middle. Last)
8b.  MAIDEN SURNAME (If different)

Hello Grammatoncleric ~

In answer to your question about the bride's name, you would use her
CURRENT legal name, inasmuch as she would not have a "new" last name,
should she decide to take your name, until after the marriage has
taken place.

8a. is the Bride's name now (if she has been married before) and 
8b. is her maiden name if she has been married before and now has a
last name different from her name at birth.

 ================

Actually, the license is a form that is issued by the Clerk of the
Court. You must also file an Application for the license.

If the bride or groom have been married before, a certified copy of
any previous divorce decree must accompany that application.

I have found a website - Marriage Laws (marriagelaws.com) - that
explains the procedures and forms necessary to obtain a marriage
license pursuant to the Virgin Island Code, here:
   - http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/caribbean/us_virgin_island/

You can print the forms from here:
   - http://usmarriagelaws.com/html/print_applications.shtml

 =================

MarriageLaws.com also seems to do a creditable job of explaining the
procedure for obtaining a marriage license for most of the United
States. Most states require both an application and then the issuance
of a license, as you can see here:
   - http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/

 =================

If you wish to view the actual law, Lexis/Nexis has the actual law and
instructions for the Application under "Virgin Islands Code : TITLE 16
DOMESTIC RELATIONS : Chapter 1. Marriage : § 35. Examination of
applicants for marriage license"
   - http://www.michie.com/virginislands/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=fs-main.htm&2.0

and "§38. Issuance of marriage license; form" can be found there as
well.


Search strategies:
   * US Virgin Islands marriage laws
   * US Virgin Islands code

Lexis/Nexis 
   - Domestic Relations
   - Application for Marriage License
   - Issuance of Marriage License


Good luck and best wishes to you both,
Serenata

---

Request for Answer Clarification by grammatoncleric-ga on 10 Sep 2003 10:31 PDT

Serenata,

What sources do you have to back up your statement, "...you would use
her CURRENT legal name, inasmuch as she would not have a 'new' last
name, should she decide to take your name, until after the amrriage
has taken place?"

GC

---

Clarification of Answer by serenata-ga on 10 Sep 2003 11:34 PDT

Hi Grammatoncleric ~

Thank you for the Request for Clarification. The basis for this is the
questions themselves. They are asking for the bride's name on both the
Application for Marriage License and the License itself. Since the
license is a license to GET married, obviously the bride's name is her
name PRIOR to the marriage.

However, if you take a careful look at the statutory form for the
marriage license at the section for the officiant to sign, it is
obvious that the names are the applicants legal names at the time of
the marriage:


"I,  .................... who have been duly authorized to celebrate
the rites of marriage in the Virgin Islands, do hereby certify that,
by authority of a license of corresponding number herewith, I
solemnized the marriage of  .................... and 
.................... named therein, on the  ............... day of 
.................... at  .................... in the Virgin Islands."
  
  (c)  A second coupon, of corresponding number with the license,
shall be attached to and issued with the license, to be given to the
contracting parties by the minister or other person to whom such
license was addressed, and shall be in the following form:
                                                 Number 
....................

    I hereby certify that on this  ............ day of 
.................... at  .................... ,  ....................
and  .................... were by me united in marriage in accordance
with the license issued by the Territorial Court of 
.................... "

Source: Virgin Islands Code : TITLE 16 DOMESTIC RELATIONS : 
Chapter 1. Marriage : § 38. Issuance of marriage license; form 
   - http://www.michie.com/virginislands/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=fs-main.htm&2.0


Hope this helps and best wishes to you both,
Serenata

Here is the form:
http://fantasiaweddings.com/forms/VI-License.pdf

I couldn't find the answer online.

My assunmption is that the name you put down is the woman's current
legal name, and the maiden name bit is in case she was previously
married and still uses the surname from that marriage. By entering her
original maiden name, birth and marriage certificates could be matched
in the future.

8a. Jane Middle Roe
8b. Leave blank unless Roe is not her birth name, in which case enter
the birth surname.

robertskelton-ga
Google Answers Researcher

I couldn't find the answer either, but I agree with Robertskelton-ga. 
At the time the form is filled out, the bride still has her maiden
name, so that is the name she should use.

As far as the name change goes, in most if not all states all the
woman has to do is notify Social Security, the drivers' licensing
bureau, her employer and other applicable parties of the name change. 
Usually no special form is needed.
 
If a couple does something untraditional (such as both adopting a
hyphenated name), they may need to take additional steps to get the
name officially recognized.  It used to be in some states that a woman
had to take special steps if she wished to keep her maiden name, but I
don't believe that is still the case.