I decided I was going to wait until I calmed down to write this, but now I realise I wasn't angry or upset, I'm just annoyed.
Now, I am in the lucky position of having got married when off on my maternity leave and the reason I say lucky is because at least all the silly crap that I have to do like re-registering my son's birth - still not over it, still think it's stupid - can be done pretty easily because I have plenty of time off to do admin tasks. The only problem is I, of course, need to cart my poor little lad around with me whilst doing them and he can be bored as hell.
Given the number of people who get married each year and the number of people who then change their names as a result of that marriage, and I'm also going to add in that given how this disproportionately affects women (there's nothing political in that or anything, it's just the truth), you would think that changing things like your documents to have the 'correct' name wouldn't be so difficult. So, the DVLA would have an online form where you can provide the change of address details, digital copies of your marriage certificate and just send over your old license, right? WRONG!
If you are changing your name post marriage, you have to get a form from the Post Office - it might not even be your local one because your local branch might be too small to deal with these types of forms, even though all they do is hand them out... - and then send it with your marriage certificate (no certified copies allowed!) and your old license to the DVLA and they will get back to you with a changed license. I believe it is similar for a passport.
I understand that these things are official documents and that appropriate checks need to be done, but it's crazy to me that it takes this much effort, especially as the majority of people will be navigating this whilst also working. It seems insane that it's not easier, given that hundreds of people get married every day, and it's not uncommon to want to share a surname with your spouse and your children. It's enough that you have to go through the motions of changing your name with every company you have previously interacted with, and it's a long old process, without making it overly complicated to get your ID changed so the rest can follow.
