Name Wrong on Marriage Certificate
Here’s a question that I’ve actually received a number of times: There is an error in my name as it appears on my marriage certificate. I am very unhappy in the marriage. Does that mistake mean that my marriage is null and void and I can walk away without having to go through a divorce?
Hey, that would be easy, wouldn’t it? I wish the IRS would spell my name wrong when they mail me things and then I wouldn’t owe taxes! You know things do not work this way.
Scrivener’s error dates back to previous centuries when a “scrivener” would copy a document down word-for-word. This occurred before the invention of photocopiers, scanners and other such devices. Being human, scriveners made mistakes. So the law decided that such minor errors would not defeat the legality of a document.
For example, scriveners hand-wrote deeds into the books of a registry of deeds. Property boundaries in such deeds might contain a typographical error. This failed as a defense for your neighbor to claim part of your yard if in fact it was an honest mistake.
Even today, clerks and others face the task of entering data into public records. So, in your case, a clerk may have made an innocent mistake entering your name into the system to produce your marriage certificate. So, if you entered the marriage with the intent to marry, the typo provides no “get out of jail free” card, invalidating your marriage.
My answer to your question comes in as a no. The typographical error or other mishap in the creation of the document provides no simple escape valve. The scrivener’s error concept continues despite the invention of scanners, copiers and other devices. The human factor means honest mistakes are made.
Errors in legal documents sometimes happen even though they are to be avoided at all costs.
You may or may not have had the opportunity, or the emotions of the moment may have deflected your full focus. But, this provides one of many examples indicating that one should never sign a document or accept a document without reading it first. Even those pesky lengthy gym membership and cell phone contracts jammed with small print should be read in their entirety before signing.
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Thanks for the info! My soon to be ex's name on his birth certificate is different than on our marriage licence ex randolph instead of randy.
Mine too! I married a man who put his middle name as last so nobody know married. What happened can I get annulled we were married no more than 3 year living together and filed 4 years later. I only found out now not even his last name in record!! Definitely, not the man I thought I was marrying.
How can no one know you were married! If you married with intent to marry, as stated in the original blog article, mistakes in the marriage certificate are just that and it is likely that any family court will say you were married and can't just walk away. Be sure to tell me if this is not the case, and best wishes!
Very sad they would walk away from the marriage rather than try to get counseling.
My name is spelt with a z instead of s (lisa) on my marriage license. Now I wish to divorce after a 5 year separation. So I just dont know how to go about about it, as you have to copy whats put on the license. Thanks for the info saying its valid though.
Dear Lisa;
I would fill out the form this way: "Liza (sic) for Lisa". Then obviously sign your name with the correct spelling. Better yet have an attorney in your jurisdiction do this for you, the attorney knows how the clerks in your local court would prefer to handle the issue. Best wishes.
My maiden name is Bass, I married and it became Cole. Divorced September 13,2011. Changed my name back to Bass. Then REMARRIED the same man and Became Cole again on Feb 22, 2013. My problem is that when we applied for the marriage license I had the DL that still had my name as COLE. my legal name at the 2nd marriage would have been BASS. So the certificate says Nicole Cole married Devin Cole. Does this make everything invalid?
No. (1) Your last name is Cole no matter how you arrived at it, the DL or the fact that you married, or remarried, Cole. (2) The point of the initial blog is that despite errors on a marriage certificate, if there was a valid marriage, you are married. They could have put your name down as rhinoceros. See a divorce attorney in your jurisdiction, and I truly wish you the best.
I just found I signed our marriage certificate with my maiden name. However, I have been using my married name on all document for 30 years. Am I married? What is my legal name?
Married name
My middle name is Ann but the error is Ann Gregory , Gregory is my dad's first name, problem or not? Thanks
I would go back to Town Hall or whatever office issued this and have them re-do.
On my marriage license it has miss in front of my maiden name instead of mrs. I don't have my husband last name what should I do.
It's funny, my practice areas for the most part are personal injury and bankruptcy, but I wrote this blog article based on a question I got back when I used to write a newspaper column, and I get more questions about this than practically any other article. Go to your city or town clerk and talk to them about the issue because (1) I'm not licensed in your jurisdiction and (2) there may or may not be a simple way to correct this with an application without having to get an attorney involved. Thank you for reading my blog and sending me a question.
Probably the best solution is to go to the town hall or other office where the marriage license was issued and see if there is a simple solution to the issue you raise.
This is what is referred to as a scrivener's error. In other words. people make mistakes. This does not invalidate the marriage.
What if my intent was NOT to marry but to just make a mistake. He was not kind. He threatened to toss me out if I didn’t marry him. I was just 18 and had no place to go. So I spelled my name wrong on purpose. A year later, when I could get out, I bought a do it yourself divorce kit and threatened him with jail time if he didn’t divorce me. He was abusive. Cops had to come by several times. He had a girlfriend besides me. I was 19 when the divorce was final. Now I’m nearly 50 and I wish I could say the whole marriage was fake or ennulled. Is there a way to rewrite the divorce?
I am very sorry to hear of the horrible conditions in your early life. Doing an annulment generally requires a showing of a fraud, and the fact that 50 years has gone by could be a problem. I highly recommend that you seek advice from a family law attorney in your jurisdiction to explore options in your local court. I am a personal injury attorney in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. I initially wrote this blog article in response to a question one of my readers sent when I was also writing a newspaper column.
My lovely husband one of his middle names was spelt laghan instead of lughan on our marriage certificate please is there a problem yes or no thanks
My son got married and the the license show his first middle and last name and then the word suffix after his last name Aaron Dale Jones suffix.... is this marriage still legal
The marriage itself is legal. There is an error in the marriage license. Go to the town hall or other office where the document was issued and explain.