getting married and need advice

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in peds, OB/GYN, IM,.

So after 5 years of being together my boyfriend and I are getting married. So my question is I will have about 8 months after we get married until my lisence needs to be renewed. What do I do? Renew right after my name change, work under my maiden name until the time I need to renew it? Can I even do that?:nurse:

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Call your local BON, or look it up on their website. Generally, they will ask for a certified copy of your marriage license, just like for you drivers' license.

Congrats!

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Specializes in Critical Care/Coronary Care Unit,.

Check with your state BON...that's the best thing you can do. Usually as long as you submit a copy of your marriage license to the state BON they'll change your license for a fee of course...or you could possibly work under your maiden name until it's time to renew. However, if you change your last name right away...the hospital may not let you work. Check with the BON.

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Specializes in NICU, Vascular, Oncology, Telemetry.

First of all - CONGRATS on your engagement!! :heartbeat How long until the wedding (when will you legally be changing your name?) I recently went through this earlier this year -- and from what I understand, if you change your name legally, you must change your nursing license to accurately reflect this as soon as it's done, otherwise you can be accused of fraud (practicing under a different name from your legal name).

I do know you must change your social security card first. Then you must contact your state board of nursing to complete the name change. It is a pain in the rear, but yes, you'll likely have to renew again anyways in 8 months when your license is up for renewal. The BONs don't care about what is convenient, they just care about what is legally right.

The tricky part comes if you are licensed in more than one state, or if any state you are licensed in is part of the Nursing Licensure Compact. I am and it was loads of paperwork and follow-up. Plus, the different state Boards each had different requirements for what was "acceptable" proof of a name change. For the OH BON, I had to send in my ACTUAL marriage certificate, with the promise they would return it within 10 days. I was so nervous, but it was returned to me as promised.

Good luck with all this, and just remember to protect your license with your life - you worked hard for it!!:D

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The way it was explained to me is, once you have the marriage license, you can legally go by either last name, as long as you can back it up with the correct paperwork if you're ever asked about it. So I would just wait until your license comes up for renewal... CONGRATS!!!

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Congrats on the engagement!

You don't have to renew your license to change your name on it. Just update your name through your BON. I got married 6 months before my license was due to be renewed. I changed my last name on my nursing license as soon as it was updated with the SSA. I just had to mail in a name change form. There was a fee of $25 or so. Then when my renewal date came up 6 months later on my birthday, I renewed as usual.

Where I work, you have to sign your documents with the name that is on your nursing license. Some nurses I work changed their name legally with the SSA but didn't change their name on their nursing license until their renewal date. They signed their maiden name at work until then.

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I was just married 2 weeks ago and in Indiana I just had to mail a copy of my marriage certificate to the BON. Changing my SSN had no relevance although I am doing that tomorrow.

Congrats....it is such a happy and exciting time. I am still floating!! Wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness together!!

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
So after 5 years of being together my boyfriend and I are getting married. So my question is I will have about 8 months after we get married until my lisence needs to be renewed. What do I do? Renew right after my name change, work under my maiden name until the time I need to renew it? Can I even do that?:nurse:

Congrats.

In my state, you have 60 days from the date you have a legal name change to change your name with the BON and then your facility needs to be provided with a copy of your new license.

So it would most likely need to be done before your renewal because once you change your name legally with the DMV and Social Security Office, it needs to be done with the BON so that all documents match.

The DMV, SSA and the BON was easy....it was my credit cards and Paypal that caused me the biggest headache.

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Specializes in peds, OB/GYN, IM,.

thanks everyone. so it sounds like its not going to be that hard then. i hope lol.

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