Man Files Lawsuit to Take Wife's Name

Man Files Lawsuit to Take Wife's Name
By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer

Friday, January 12, 2007


(01-12) 11:17 PST Los Angeles (AP) --


Mike Buday isn't married to his last name. In fact, he and his fiancee decided before they wed that he would take hers.

But Buday was stunned to learn that he couldn't simply become Mike Bijon when they married in 2005.

snip...
Only six states — Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York and North Dakota — have statutes establishing equal name-change processes for men and women when they marry. In California and other states, men cannot choose a different last name while filing a marriage license.

In California, a man who wants to take his wife's name must file a petition, pay more than $300, place a public notice for weeks in a local newspaper and then appear before a judge.

Because of Buday's case, a California state lawmaker has introduced a bill to put a space on the marriage license for either spouse to change names.

snip...
Bijon, 28, approached Buday about the idea when they were dating. She had no brothers but wanted to prolong the family name. Buday, a 29-year-old developer of interactive advertising, was estranged from his own father and was not attached to his own last name.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2007/01/12/national/a111701S21.DTL

And they live in CA. I recall he had to jump through hoops to do it, which is ridiculous.

It should definitely not be such a hassle for a man to take the woman's last name, if that's what they both want. But just watch, Fundies will oppose the proposed California legislation.

Not a slam against GA ... my time there was wonderful - I lived in three different cities over many years ... but many folks don't think of GA as especially progressive.

won't even see that there's lingering sexism in our society.

He had a slightly embarrassing WASP name and hers was kinda cool. If a name change is desired by either or both parties, it should just be written in on the marriage license.

as a side-affect of the "civil unions" bill. Either member of a unionizing couple may change their name automatically now, so I think it could extend to husband taking a wife's name in a marriage as well.