Monday, July 26, 2010

Misadventures in bureaucracy

Getting a legal name change is a royal pain. Each place needs its own documentation, but few offices tell you exactly what you need to bring. Frustration.

First we went to the DMV. The sign on the door said "two hour wait from this point". We grabbed the form and took off. No way I was going to wait two hours in the 'express office'.

Downstairs to the bank. No real problems with the name/address change there. The real problems came when he wanted us to spend 'two minutes' opting into a free account option. Forty minutes later, we leave, without having that option activated due to a lack of proof of something. Lame.

Then to BYU. No line! Hooray! Straight up to the window, tell her I need a name change and marital status change. She asks for my new social security card. Poop. Haven't gotten there yet. Guess we get to go back later

Home for a coke break, plus a few rants.

Off to the social Security office! Finally, an office that tells you exactly what you need to bring.
Marriage license, birth certificate, and Drivers license. We walked in and signed in on their nifty computer, got our number, (A298 if anyone was wondering), and waited. About 10 minutes later, they called our number. Up to the window, present the documents, wait for a minute while he types in the information, then agree that everything is what you say it us, under penalty of law. Yikes. He asked if I wanted a receipt, which, contrary to what I had hoped, is not a temporary form of the card. It just tells you that it will be mailed within two weeks. Poop again. Guess we aren't going back up to campus for a couple weeks.

Beyond that, there isn't much else we can do until we feel like braving the DMV again. Until then, I have my double-sided, legal paper sized form to ponder.

Coming soon: A Name change survival guide: Learning from our misadventures.

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