I went to get my Florida driver's license today. I did not have to take any tests - they checked my driving record in NC, saw that it was clean, and don't waste people's time with that silliness the way North Carolina does. But Florida has added its own special kind of crazy. Effective January of last year, you now have to prove you are still you, by producing documents you probably haven't been asked for in decades. The procedure is explained here. It is simply batshit crazy.
I have had the same last name since 1979. I graduated from a Florida university with this name. I bought and sold houses in FL with this name. I had children, held jobs, got a professional license, voted, paid taxes, etc. etc., with this last name. I had to produce my goddamn MARRIAGE LICENSE, along with my birth certificate, Social Security card, and all the rest of the crap. Luckily I located it this morning in the nick of time. But the clerk nearly didn't accept it. It didn't look "official" to her. She thought it was just an unofficial document from the church.
I stared at her blankly - it's a Maryland license, issued in Prince George's County and it is as official as I can get. I haven't been asked to produce it in 30 years and I'm just agog that I had to today, but then to have her question its acceptability as proof that this is my legal name...it's bugshit crazy.
A woman isn't required to change her name at marriage, and even more bugshit: a marriage license doesn't actually document a name change. If a woman opts to take her husband's name, she has to do that with Social Security, et al., after the marriage. I had produced a Social Security card with my name on it, I own property in the county, I possess a valid driver's license and insurance from another state, but I had to dig out and produce a marriage license that doesn't legally do what they seem to think it does, after 30+ years of living, paying taxes, and yes, holding a Florida driver's license under that same name, and then it nearly wasn't accepted as sufficient proof that I am legally me!! The decision was in the hands of a clerk who wasn't sure the piece of paper in her hand was official enough to pass.
She took it and disappeared - I don't know if she got a blessing from a supervisor or held it to her forehead and meditated upon it, but after a long time she returned and said it was okay. I was so relieved that a document that doesn't legally represent a name change was accepted as proof of my name change! /snark Actually, she was a very nice and helpful lady, and though I expressed my incredulity at the idiocy of this situation, I also told her I knew she didn't make the rules and was stuck with enforcing them. I suppose I should be properly grateful that I was able to prove that I am me in only one trip to the DMV, instead of the several trips it has taken others. If my marriage license had been rejected, how long would it take to straighten it out?
Story about this here.
So, PSA to Florida brides - think hard about whether it's worth the hassle to take your husband's last name. You'll be forced to "prove it" - by producing a document that didn't actually change your name, so be sure to get one with lots of official looking seals!
On a much happier note, my driver's license picture is great, and it doesn't expire until 2019. :-)
Next up: re-register the car. The driver's license lady was nice enough to give me some tips and a ballpark figure of what it will cost me, so it should be less crazy - Baby will not have to produce six kinds of ID to prove she's the same Subie that left the state a year ago.
The Massachusetts RMV is insane as well. My daughter wanted to renew her state ID since she is over 21 and can now legally drink. The over 21 ID is horizontal and the under is vertical. Places that sell or serve liquor won't take the vertical ID. The RMV will not accept the Mass state ID as ID for renewing it. You must bring 3 other pieces of ID, one an approved photo ID even though your photo is on the state ID. But they want everyone else to take this as proof of ID. Insanity.
ReplyDeleteThe other funny thing about this is that FL asks for an armload of original documents, but nothing with a photo on it!! I still had my expired FL license AND my NC license, but it wasn't good enough to prove I was me. So somebody with enough ambition and attention to detail could use someone else's identity, or fake a bunch of out of state documents and walk out with a Sooper Dooper Offshul FL ID with a photo. I'm so glad we have these crazy systems for keeping us "safe" aren't you?
ReplyDeleteWhen I got married back in 1985, I kept my own name. When we tried to get car insurance, the agent told me that since my husband and I didn't have the same last name, we weren't really married. (?) She told me to change my name so that she could give us a quote on the insurance. (Yeah---I based the decision to keep my own name when I married based on something as fluffy as car insurance.) Anyhoo, how does a 30-year-old marriage license prove who you are now? You could have been married to and divorced from several other guys in that time. In Iowa, at the time we got married, there are spaces on the application for both the husband and wife to list their current names and the name they wished to use after the marriage. It gave both of us the impression we could have chosen a third name that we both liked better to use as our married name and not used either birth name.
ReplyDeleteIf I had married and divorced I'd have had to carry a bigger armload of paper and produce not only a marriage license but divorce documents. All of which get copied and saved in their files, btw. I'm wondering if anyone has considered challenging this brilliant idea based on unequal impact on women. How often does a man get called upon to prove his name is legally his? All he needs is his birth certificate.
ReplyDeleteCurly, Moe and Larry must have something to do with writing the legal requirements for documentation in far too many states.
ReplyDelete