Man Sues For Right To Take His Wife's Last Name

[yby1]

http://cbs2.com/watercooler/Husband.Wife.Legal.2.716681.html

LOS ANGELES Shakespeare asked "What's in a name?" but for one Marina del Rey man, the answer is, well, relative.

Michael Buday wanted to take his wife's surname after marriage but found that the DMV wouldn't issue him a new license in that name.

Women get to change their names all the time, and Buday figured it was his right to change his. Plus, he promised his new wife that he would take her name, Bijon, because their were no sons in her father's family to carry on the Bijon name.

So, what's in a name? A three-year legal battle for starters. Today, Buday, uh, Bijon was granted the right to become Michael Bijon. Strike up one for women's liberation.

The couple were married on Aug. 20, 2005 and now, for the first time legally, the Bijons are united in name and relationship.

Prior to his lawsuit, if Buday wanted to make the change to Bijon, he would have had to pay court fees of more than $300, advertise his plans in newspaper for four weeks and get judicial approval.

The traditional method of Bijon taking on Buday's name would have cost
somewhere between about $50 and $90. And that's it. No newspaper announcement, no judicial approval.

With help from the American Civil Liberties Union, the couple filed a federal lawsuit in 2006 alleging sex-based discrimination in the issuance of marriage and driver's licenses.

In settlement agreements, changes have been made in state Department of Motor Vehicle and Department of Health Services policies and forms allowing Buday to become Michael Bijon.


Interesting. I had no idea it was that complicated for a man to change his surname. I'm glad they've made it easier here in California.

[PinkMartini]

I had no idea either...

Whats up with the newspaper announcement?

[miaclear]

Wow...I was so close to getting DH to agree to change his name but he backed out. Interesting read.

[Aimee]

In Louisiana, either spouse can take the other's name. He offered me his, I offered him mine, and we're currently at a stalemate :)

[WonderWoman]

Prior to his lawsuit, if Buday wanted to make the change to Bijon, he would have had to pay court fees of more than $300, advertise his plans in newspaper for four weeks and get judicial approval.


My DH had to do that when we changed our names - we took each other's last name, so we are both mylastname hislastname. It was the process of changing his name legally, like you would do if you wanted to change your first name. It was ridiculous. We even had to meet with a judge and explain the name change. We aren't in any of those states listed in the story. The other thing is our MVD won't let you have two last names without a hyphen. So on our driver's licenses our names our hyphenated, but they aren't on any other legal documents.

[Belm]

We combined our last names, no hypens just one word. In VA it wasn't such a big deal, we filled out the paperwork, went to the county clerks office and while a judge signed off on it, we never had to go in front of a judge. It was a pretty easy process and I don't remember it costing us a whole lot either. In fact, I think that it was only around $30 or so.

[Scooter]

I'm surprised about that. My friend's husband (also in CA) took her name when they got married and I didn't realize he had to go through all that to change it!

this part was interesting:
"Women have fought for so long for equal rights, and it feels like this is part of that fight," Diana Bijon said
I wasn't thinking of it as equal rights for women, I was thinking from the other side of the feminist coin. Equal rights, period, and this time for men to have the same opportunity as women. :)

[MsPeachy]

This isn't the first time I've heard of people having this problem. I think it's ridiculous. In a similar vein, a few years back in DC, there was a married couple who had to fight in court to have the wife's last name listed as their newborn baby's last name. They didn't understand why they weren't allowed to name their baby what they wanted. These antiquated "laws" have no place in today's society.

[Tracie]

We almost hyphenated our last names when we got married, but ended up going the traditional route after all. I wonder if DH would have had to go through all of that in NH. That's quite ridiculous.

[laura]

Strange. In Massachusetts, you can just write it on the marriage license application - whatever you want - and it becomes legal when you file the license. Er, at least that is how it was in 2002.

[FoxyBlue]

Whats up with the newspaper announcement?

You're required to do so when legally changing a name via court order (as opposed to a marriage based change) so that (in theory, assuming EVERYONE reads these announcements) you can't use the name change to skip out on debts, etc.