Skip to main content

A Needed Business Venture


I've talked to several female friends who are newlyweds, and we are all in agreement: dealing with the necessary paperwork after getting married is a major hassle.

After your marriage certificate arrives in the mail, you must go to the DMV to get your license, which you need as photo ID to change your social security card, credit cards, checks, and insurance. Don't forget that you must also change your mailing address, email address, everything at work (official files with HR department, email address, business cards, etc.). If you plan to travel internationally anytime soon, be sure to update your passport (which also costs a pretty penny). Then you have to notify any other accounts or memberships you have (like Delta Skymiles, gym memberships, etc.).

The bottom line is that making all of these changes is inconvenient. The changes involve making a lot of phone calls, then physically visiting half a dozen places. Most of these alterations need to be completed during business hours, which involves taking a day off of work. The changes also need to be completed in a certain order. You absolutely have to have a photo ID and your marriage license in order to change bank information, for example. Also unfortunate - it's hard to remember all of the places that need your new information, so you may run into a problem when you try to make a transaction with a company or organization that still lists your old name, address and marital status.

I recommend that someone design a service that takes care of all of these legal changes for brides. The bride would simply provide her new name, new address, social security number (privacy waiver signed), and choose what accounts she has from an existing list that the service provides, preventing her from overlooking something. The service would then do the background work and simply provide the bride with a packet of papers to sign. I realize that some of these changes do need to be made in person, but I think the company could find a way around it in many cases, or at least reduce the number of places the woman would have to physically visit.

This concept would save newly-married women with a lot of running around and headache during a time that is busy and full of change already. I would have gladly paid a reasonable fee to have someone walk me through the steps necessary to making my new name and address legal and official everywhere. This is just an idea...but if any of you implement it, I claim a cut of the profits! :-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jonah and the Worm

My sister gave me a book for Christmas that I finally picked up to read last week. The book – Jonah and the Worm by Jill Briscoe – is a children’s book with deep meanings, and I am so glad that I finally began to read it. It’s kind of like Shrek or other animated movies that are cleverly written to be enjoyed by both children and their parents. The book tells the story of Jonah from the Bible focusing on the perspective of the worm in the story. Details are embellished, but the timing and schedule of events is the same as the Biblical account. This short little book contains really profound truths that have jumped off the page at me. For example, the worm receives a message from God that he should travel to Ninevah, though God doesn’t give him an explanation as to why. Travelling to Ninevah means leaving behind his family and familiarity, but he decides to obey and go where the Lord is sending him – even though he doesn’t know what purpose God has for him there. On his way to Ninevah...
Post a Comment
Read more

Olivia Kate Update

We expected a routine appointment. Last April, the cardiology team told us that we did not have to return for another check-up on the hole in Olivia's heart for a full year. This was music to a mom's and dad's ears! Since her pediatrician had noticed the severe murmur in her heartbeat when she was just four days old, we'd visited the cardiologist office several times to monitor any changes in heart function. So far, it seemed that this hole was not causing any problems, and the doctors said that it might even close on its own. The ultrasounds of Olivia's heart today revealed a different story, unfortunately. The left side of her heart has enlarged slightly over the last year, which tells us that this precious organ is under a bit of stress due to the turbulence of the extra blood flowing in and out of the hole. The first cardiologist who reviewed the ultrasounds with us today told us what we really did not want to hear: Olivia is heading down the path that req...
10 comments
Read more

Fully Present

I passed our infant carseat on to someone else last week. I did the same thing with my maternity clothes. If those seems like drastic steps for someone who up until fairly recently said she wanted to be pregnant, it's because they are. They seemed that way to me too. Even though I was confident I was supposed to pass these items to these particular expectant moms, I still felt a lump in my throat as I drove away without the carseat. If you've followed along with our journey at all, you know that as much as John adores Olivia, he never felt a strong pull to have a second child. I always wanted another and assumed that we would. It wasn't even a question in my mind. We continued to disagree on this (rather substantial) decision for quite a while, so we decided that we'd spend the year 2016 praying intentionally and specifically about this issue, asking God to bring unity. I realize how funny this it is now. God is not a Magic 8 ball who provides answers at...
Post a Comment
Read more