Choices of Name Upon Marriage

(a)Upon entering into a contract of marriage, a spouse may elect to retain his or her surname before marriage as his or her surname after marriage, or a spouse may elect to adopt any of the following surnames:

(1)the current surname of the other spouse;

(2)the surname of either spouse given at birth;

(3)a combination of surnames; or

(4)either spouse may elect to hyphenate his or her surname with the surname of the other spouse.

(b)Upon entering into a contract of marriage, a spouse may elect to retain his or her middle name before marriage as his or her middle name after marriage, or a spouse may elect to adopt any of the following middle names:

(1)the current surname of either spouse;

(2)the surname of either spouse given at birth; COL1312018 CH. 3 CONTRACT OF MARRIAGE

(3)a combination of the spouse’s current middle name, and the current surname of the other spouse;

(4)a combination of the spouse’s current middle name and surname;

(5)a combination of the spouse’s current middle name and the spouse’s surname given at birth; or

(6)a combination of the spouse’s current middle name, and the other spouse’s surname given at birth.

(c)An election by a person to change his or her name pursuant to this Section shall serve as a record of the name change. A certified copy of a marriage certificate indicating a person’s new name, or retaining the former name, shall constitute proof that the use of the new name or retention of the former name is lawful.