Name change after marriage in Georgia
Five steps, one correct order. Do them top to bottom and you'll never stand in the same Georgia DDS line twice.
- 1
Get 3+ certified copies of your marriage certificate
From the county clerk that issued your Georgia marriage license. Certified copies with a raised seal — several agencies keep one, so order extras up front.
- 2
Social Security first (form SS-5) — free
Everything else checks against SSA, so this is always step one. Mail the SS-5 with a certified certificate and your ID, or visit an SSA office. Your number never changes — only the name on it.
- 3
Then your Georgia driver's license — Georgia DDS
Wait ~48 hours after the SSA update, then visit Georgia DDS in person with your current license, a certified marriage certificate and proof of address. Fees are typically $10–40. Georgia DDS requires the name to match Social Security records, so do the SSA step and wait 24–48 hours before your DDS visit. Current requirements: dds.georgia.gov.
- 4
U.S. passport (form DS-82)
Mail the DS-82 with your current passport, a certified certificate, one printed 2x2" photo and the fee. If your passport is less than a year old, form DS-5504 makes the correction free.
- 5
Voter registration, banks, work, everything else
Re-register to vote (often automatic with the Georgia DDS update), then banks, employer HR, insurance, and the long tail of accounts.
Skip the form-filling part
The $29 kit pre-fills your DS-82, prepares your SS-5 answers, writes a letter for every bank, and orders it all for Georgia — instantly, as one PDF.
Build my Georgia kit — $29Free personalized checklist first · SSN never asked
FAQ
How long does a name change take in Georgia?+
The active work is about one afternoon. Waiting is the long part: ~2 weeks for the new Social Security card and several weeks for the passport, but you can run those in parallel once SSA is filed.
Do I need a court order?+
No — for a marriage name change in Georgia, your certified marriage certificate is the legal document. Court orders are only for name changes outside marriage/divorce.
What if I already updated my license before Social Security?+
That's the classic wrong-order trap — some agencies verify against SSA records and will bounce you. Fix SSA first, wait 48 hours, then redo the license.
Free tools for this process
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