OPINION —
I am contacting you to share my recent experience with being denied a STAR ID.
I hope this information may help other married women who find themselves in a similar situation.
My husband and I married in 1985. As soon as we received our certified marriage certificate, I followed the instructions at the time: I sent copies of my birth certificate, our marriage certificate and a completed name-change-after-marriage form to Social Security. Once I received my new Social Security card in my married name, I updated my driver’s license. I have used my married name consistently for nearly 41 years.
A couple of weeks ago, I scheduled an appointment at my local ALEA driver license office to obtain a STAR ID. I brought the required documents: certified copies of my birth certificate and marriage certificate, my Social Security card which was issued to me in 1985 and reflects my name-change-after-marriage, my current driver’s license, two recent utility bills in my name and address and my expired 2005 passport (which also shows my married name).
The examiner told me he could not issue the STAR ID because the name on my birth certificate and marriage certificate (my maiden name) “does not match” the name on my Social Security card and driver’s license (my married name). He said I would need additional “legal documentation” proving I had changed my name. I thought that documentation was called a birth certificate, a marriage certificate and a social security card.
Since then, I have spoken with several elected and appointed officials at the local and state levels.
My state representative arranged for someone from ALEA to call me. The ALEA representative told me that, since STAR ID enforcement began last May, his office has received numerous calls from women born in the 1950s and 1960s facing a similar issue.
My county probate judge told me his office has seen an increase in women married in the 1980s and 1990s with similar documentation problems. They have now set aside specific day(s) each month for “name-change court.”
If any part of my experience could help inform or assist other women who have been denied a STAR ID due to a post-marriage name change, please feel free to contact me for additional details.
Publisher’s Note: To protect the author’s private email address, The Observer will happily forward emails to her.
Sincerely,
Lynn McCoy Bailey
Lee County, Alabama
