I live in MN, Hennepin County. When I married my current spouse, I kept my former spouses last name as part of my new last name, i.e full na...

Question

I live in MN, Hennepin County. When I married my current spouse, I kept my former spouses last name as part of my new last name, i.e full name is now: FirstName FormerSpLastName CurrentSpLastName (no hyphen). When I went to DMV to get a new license, they said I had to use my full name, with my FormerSpLastName. I want to drop FormerSpLast Name so that my last name is only that of my current spouse, i.e. new full name: FirstName CurrentSpLastName. I am not changing my identity, just dropping my former spouses last name. Do I have to go through the whole court name change process and pay the full $320 fee to simply drop my former spouses' last name?

Answer

I hope another attorney will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you will have to go through the name change process (including paying the filing fee.) As I understand the process is straight forward and is included upon marriage. I would seriously doubt the window stays open forever since that would make little since and pretty much let any married person to change his/her name at will.