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View Full Version : Hyphenated name usage


LulahB
Nov 20, 2006, 07:36 PM
My fiancé really wants to take his last name, but I'm 25 and love my last name and my family. If I hyphenate my name is it legal for me to use his last name when we get to issues with our future kids, and my last name when I'm dealing with my own business?

valinors_sorrow
Nov 20, 2006, 08:33 PM
Your hypenated name will be the legal one and it must be used in all legal matters. When it comes to your kids, they can have a different legal name than yours. When it comes to your business, you better use your legal name or its likely to look like a flim-flam thing, you know?

I considered using a hyphenated name when I married since I had built a sizable client base on my name as a graphic designer but thought that later, after I got out of the business, I might want to trim it down. When I looked into what it took to change it, I decided against it and just kept it simple.

And congrats on the pending nuptials!