Legal name?

[diesel]

Ok I've always thought my husbands legal name was John M. Smith. All our bank accounts, mortgage, marriage license and credit cards are under this name. Well a while back I requested copies of our birth certificates to get pass ports. When I got my husbands I noticed that on his birth certificate he has no middle name listed. Just John Smith. I ask him where he got the Michael from. Well he said he started using it after he was confirmed from the Catholic church when he was 15. He said that's the way his family does it. Not sure what this means but he claims no one in his family was given middle names when they were born that they took them when they were confirmed. I'm catholic and am not aware of this tradition. Maybe it's an Italian thing. I checked and his Social Security Card has John Smith but his drivers license is John M. Smith.

So my question is will there be any problems down the road with him adding this middle name? Should he stop using the M in any documents or does a middle name not matter that much? Is it legal to use the M in his name? He doesn't think it's a big deal but I just thought I'd get peoples opinions.

 

[dcgrumpy]

My legal name on my SS card is Donna M.__________. The M comes from my "middle name" Marie, which is really mybaptismal name and not on my birth certificate.

 

[Chicago526]

No, it shouldn't be an issue as far as I know. I heard once that it's perfectly legal to use an allias on legal documents as long as you aren't doing it to comit fraud. So using a nick name or adding a middle name shouldn't be a problem.

My family is Catholic, and while we did pick confirmation names, we never use them for anything (I can't even remember what I picked!). Our middle names were given to us at birth.

 

[momrek06]

I really do not know, OP...but I do not think you can take your CONFIRMED name and then decide it is your middle name. I am Catholic and my DS' made their Confirmation a # of years ago BUT then that was IT. We never mention their Confirmed names at all after that night. Now they have middle names so adding a Confirmed name will give them FOUR names.

I think it has to be officially documented like at your local courthouse to be legally DH's middle name. Check with your courthouse or call an atty. They also have ask a lawyer a question for free online. You could google that and see where the courts stand on that issue.

Be Careful, OP, so much IDENTIFY fraud going around and IF his name really IS JOHN SMITH....he may really want a middle name.

Good Luck.

 

[buckylarue]

I have an uncle who always used V. as his middle initial, even though his actual middle name as stated on his birth certificate was Five. (He was the fifth kid, my grandma was a little 'off' to begin with, and she apparently couldn't think of anything else at the time...) I'm not aware of any legal problems he might have encountered, but I do not know about his passport, licenses,etc. He may just have used his first and last names on them, or the V., or they might have required the full name spelled out like on his certificate. Your husband could always apply for a legal name change to add the Michael to his legal name if it's a big deal...

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

My grandfather had no middle name and adopted "Carlos" when he was confirmed. We're Italian, so I'm not sure if that means it is just an "Italian thing." Anyway, he always used C as his middle initial from then on and it's even on his gravestone.

 

[dcgrumpy]

Actually come to think of it, my father never had a middle name and he uses his confirmation name as his middle initial.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

My dad grew up thinking his name was "Smith"; everything he had was in that name. Then, he went to get his drivers license and found out his name was really "Doe".

He ended up using "Doe", but all those years he was using a false name.

My mom actually uses three names. Sometimes she uses my dad's last name (they are divorced). Other times she uses her new husbands name, and sometimes she uses both hyphenated. When I was in school, I had to ask what name she wanted to use.

She has the different names depending on what it is. Some of her accounts she just didn't feel like changing when she got remarried (many, many years ago).

She isn't doing it to be fraudulent and no one has ever questioned her about it.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

My dad grew up thinking his name was "Smith"; everything he had was in that name. Then, he went to get his drivers license and found out his name was really "Doe".

He ended up using "Doe", but all those years he was using a false name.

My mom actually uses three names. Sometimes she uses my dad's last name (they are divorced). Other times she uses her new husbands name, and sometimes she uses both hyphenated. When I was in school, I had to ask what name she wanted to use.

She has the different names depending on what it is. Some of her accounts she just didn't feel like changing when she got remarried (many, many years ago).

She isn't doing it to be fraudulent and no one has ever questioned her about it.

I have 4 names...first middle maiden married. No hyphens or anything. I sometimes use my maiden name, I sometimes use my married name (even though I'm divorced now). It depends on my mood which one I feel like using.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Yes, you can use your comfirmation name as a middle name. No big deal. My sister did it. My sister & I never had middle names. She uses her comfirmation name, I use my maiden name now. When I got married and applied for a change of name on SS, I just put my maiden name as my middle name. No biggie. I don't always use a middle name though. I acquired my DH's hard to spell last name, so that's enough for most people!

 

[salmoneous]

IANAL, but this has come up in several situations I've been involved in. In each, the answers was that from a *legal* standpoint your name is pretty much whatever you commonly use. As long as there isn't any fraud or intent to deceive, there aren't any legal issues. However, there can be *practical* problems proving that the name on contract/will/whatever is really you.

The only exception is with the Social Security Administration. They are very picky about what name you use. Whatever name is on your Social Security card is the name you must use when dealing with them (or dealing with an employer deducting taxes etc.)

 

[hlbtimes2]

I have no answer to the OP- but have a story along the same lines. My dad was born in the early 40's. He was born at home with a Catholic nurse delivering him. Grandma named him Teddy Melvin Lastname. He went by Teddy for years and years. Even got his social security card with Teddy on it. You have to remember this was back in the days when you didnt need a birth cert. to get a job or SS card. When he was 18 he joined the Army. They wanted his birth cert, so he ordered it from the state. It came with the name "Theodore Melvin Lastname". Aparently the nurse didnt feel Teddy was a good, formal name and changed it before sending in the birth record. LOL

 

[golfgal]

I don't know if it is like this in other states but when we got married what ever when on our marriage license became our legal name. DH didn't change his but I changed to his last name. My SIL uses her maiden name as her middle name and her husbands last name, that is how it is on her marriage license now and that is considered her legal name.

 

[noodleknitter]

My GF and my SIL had to make up middle names for the military.

 

[mom23boys]

In our family had no middle names. My Brother, Sisters and I use our conformation name as our middle name. I use it for all of my legal documents.

I have not had any problems.

 

[MorganLeFey]

I had to laugh at this.

My grandmother did not give my mother a middle name, just an middle initial. Years later, when my mother got a copy of her birth certificate, there was a middle name on it. apparently the nurse in the delivery room added it.

as for using differnet names -- as others have said, so long as there's no fraud involved, it's ok. for some legal documents, like court papers, you might see "John Smith a/k/a John M. Smith a/k/a John Michael Smith" so that we know we're all talking about the smae person.

 

[Magickndm]

My grandma was not given a middle name either and took her confirmation name as her middle name. She lived for 89 years with no problems.

 

[ohiominnie]

I'm the 4th child in a family of 4. All of my siblings were given first and middle names at birth. Apparently by the time my parents got to kid #4, they ran out of good name ideas. Therefore I only had my first and last name until I was confirmed. I chose a middle name, Elizabeth, and now use that as my middle name, but my birth certificate does not say I have a middle name. It was no problem getting passports or any other legal thing.

FWIW, in 3rd grade I was teased horribly for my ridiculous middle name. I told my classmates I didn't HAVE one.....and they all figured that I had such a horrible middle name that I didn't want to tell anyone!!!! So therefore they teased me! Sigh.

 

[allison443]

The only exception is with the Social Security Administration. They are very picky about what name you use. Whatever name is on your Social Security card is the name you must use when dealing with them (or dealing with an employer deducting taxes etc.)

I changed my social security card to my married name but at work I still use my maiden name...my W-2 lists my maiden name but I file taxes jointly with my husband under my married name...since the ss number is the same I have never had a problem.
Just to confuse things further, I have sometimes used my confirmation name as a middle initial (no middle name)!

 

[Imzadi]

Forget worrying about identity theft. I wonder if the Patriot Act has changed the laws or lapses in enforcing laws like this. Since you are getting new passports, you'd better find out from a legal standpoint what name he can go by. You don't want his name to be flagged in a foreign airport & not be able to fly back into the U.S.