Our Next Question is for the DMV, and it's a more personal one.
"I'm actually really interested to figure out why the DMV is implementing this rule?" Jennifer Lesh asked us...
Or Jennifer Wild...
We mean Jennifer Carlyn Lesh Wild...
Even she's not sure anymore.
Jennifer has a law degree from D.U. and even she couldn't make sense of a rule from Colorado DMV, that was implemented July 15, 2016.
She recently got married, and wants to take her maiden name as her middle name, like many other women do.
"I went to the DMV yesterday and tried to get my driver's license and the employee there told me I could not do that," Jennifer said.
As of July 15, the DMV policy stated: “The customer may not remove an existing middle name with a certified marriage/civil union certificate.”
You could add a married name the existing one, or drop the maiden name, but replacing a middle name for a maiden name wasn't allowed.
That rule only lasted about a month. As of Wednesday, the DMV has changed this rule again.
“Upon further review of the implementation of this policy change, we recognized that an error was made as there was no intention of changing our procedure around middle names,” said DMV spokesperson, Sarah Werner, in an email. “Individuals may replace their middle name with their maiden name.”
It’s an error the DMV has made before. Media reports indicate a similar rule change in 2008 was met with such an uproar the DMV backed down.
The DMV said that last month’s policy change came about after customers asked questions about what was necessary to change their names. Wednesday's change came after Jennifer asked Next her question, and we took it to them.
The DMV now says that in order to change your name after getting married, individuals need to bring in the letter or card from the Social Security Administration indicating their name change, their marriage certificate and proof of their current address.
As of Thursday, we're still hearing from women running into trouble changing their names on their driver's licenses, even after our report.
If you run into trouble with a DMV clerk who doesn't know the rule has been changed, the DMV says ask for a branch manager. They should know what's up.
