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Tip: Check for correct married name

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:01 pm
by geek
Experienced clerks will probably already know this, but I still find myself bitten by this.

When a sister's marriage is processed in MLS (either by the temple if it occurred there or by the ward if it occurred outside the temple), MLS will by default drop the maiden name and change the sister's new legal name to:

Husband's Surname, Sister's_First Sister's_Middle

The maiden name is dropped.

For example, Molly Eve Mormon, marrying Peter Priesthood, becomes Molly Eve Priesthood by default, even if her intent was to become Molly Mormon Priesthood (or to remain Molly Eve Mormon, even.)


MLS will prompt you to allow CHQ to change the name and not do it yourself.

So when the record comes back, you may have to go back and change the legal name if it doesn't match the sister's intended legal name.


I think in the last couple of years, I've run across 10-12 sisters who complained that their legal married name on a record wasn't correct. Including, as we found, my own wife (who had dropped her middle name legally and was using her maiden name as a legal middle name). Bottom line: Check to make sure it's correct. Don't assume the defaults will be correct.


Tithing settlement is a good time to allow people to check that their name is correct.

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:12 pm
by mkmurray
geek wrote:Experienced clerks will probably already know this, but I still find myself bitten by this.

When a sister's marriage is processed in MLS (either by the temple if it occurred there or by the ward if it occurred outside the temple), MLS will by default drop the maiden name and change the sister's new legal name to:

Husband's Surname, Sister's_First Sister's_Middle

The maiden name is dropped.

For example, Molly Eve Mormon, marrying Peter Priesthood, becomes Molly Eve Priesthood by default, even if her intent was to become Molly Mormon Priesthood (or to remain Molly Eve Mormon, even.)


MLS will prompt you to allow CHQ to change the name and not do it yourself.

So when the record comes back, you may have to go back and change the legal name if it doesn't match the sister's intended legal name.


I think in the last couple of years, I've run across 10-12 sisters who complained that their legal married name on a record wasn't correct. Including, as we found, my own wife (who had dropped her middle name legally and was using her maiden name as a legal middle name). Bottom line: Check to make sure it's correct. Don't assume the defaults will be correct.


Tithing settlement is a good time to allow people to check that their name is correct.
Good tip, thanks for posting.

It's probably good practice to confirm those things everytime with the member and not make assumptions.

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:22 am
by jwtaber
And as part of that, if a woman's surname changes (for marriage, divorce, or some other reason), the preferred surname doesn't. It has to be fixed separately. (Conversely, you shouldn't just change the preferred surname and not enter the marriage or divorce.) My stake (especially in a few wards) has a handful of both cases.

And semi-related - if a bishop performs a civil ceremony where one or both parties is a member, he has the obligation to make sure the membership record(s) are updated. I've seen that slide for years sometimes.

Check for correct married name AND address

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 3:02 am
by nikk3hi3tala
Is there anyone here who has actually seen how this happens in temples?

My experience is that every time a couple is married in temple, this happens. And not only is the sister's last name changed, but also the address given to the couple is always the husband's address. In some cases this leads to the records ending up in a wrong ward.

It seems strange that this happens so automatically. The church is a worldwide institution and there are many different conventions for names. Or is it just that the people in the temple don't know how to properly use the software?