California Name Equality Act of 2007

California has passed the Name Equality Act of 2007 (AB 102). Hooray! Among other things, this law allows either spouse to change their name upon marriage (or upon registration of a domestic partnership) simply by filling in a blank in the marriage license. See my previous commentary on this law and why it might have saved us $400. I believe this should moot the ACLU lawsuit against California for its discriminatory name change practices.

Meanwhile, the NYT ran an article about the increased complexity of name changes on marriage. The newest trend? Couples outsourcing their name change choice to others, including naming consultants, a survey of their friends and family (using online tools like SurveyMonkey, no less!) and the winner of an inter-family softball game.