effect of name change on spouse/legal docs (2 questions)

[venusfire503 54]

Ok, I was just curious - I heard that name changes at the time of naturalization are 'free'. But what if the husband is the one being naturalized, and makes changes to his 'last' name? Does/can his wife need to change hers too (if she took his original 'last' name), and does that happen then, or does it need to be done separately? We're thinking of adding a hyphen to his name since people tend to drop part of his name - I don't know if adding a hyphen would require an actual legal "name change" or not.

The reason (kind of OT) for adding the hyphen: Let's say my husband's name is Abdel El Ephant. He's often called "Abdel Ephant" - which was more of a problem at first, when we didn't know to say "look under Ephant if you can't find it" (and since his name isn't actually El E___, it's El H___, they don't ever happen to 'accidently' see it). We've gotten junk mail addressed to Abdel El, Ephant El, and of course Abdel Ephant. If we spell it without the space, we get Elephant instead of ElEphant. So we thought maybe El-Ephant would help clear up the confusion. I know it's not a big deal in the scheme of things, but it's getting old, having to 'fix' this all of the time.

Also, he's thinking of adding an American middle name. He's already been putting "A. Jim El Ephant" on his resume, job applications, etc. We really think it helped him finally get his job (if not, it's a big coincidence that as soon as he started using Jim, he got a job after MANY months of not a single call).

My second question is, with the addition of a middle name and/or hyphen, is it necessary to modify all our legal documents? We have the normal bank accounts, mortgage, car title, his driver license, Will, etc. Or is it easier (but still legal) to just leave his name exactly as it is (Abdel El Ephant) legally, and just use the Abdel Jim El-Ephant version anyway?

It's just funny - I used to wonder why some people from other countries varied their name sometimes instead of just picking a version and sticking with it. And now I'm doing the same! I'm Jane El Ephant, Jane El-Ephant, or even Jane ElEphant.

venusfire

Edited October 17, 2009 by venusfire503