Changing name after marriage Nevada: your steps

The rules for changing name after marriage Nevada residents follow are short: no court order is needed for the usual choices. You need a certified copy of your marriage certificate, a DMV form and an affidavit. Here is the order to do it in, read off Nevada law.

What to do first

1. Decide which name you want. For a Nevada driver's license, the marriage affidavit gives you three choices: take your spouse's last name, hyphenate your last name with your spouse's, or make your last name your middle name and take your spouse's last name (NRS 483.375(3)(b)). You can also keep your name: under NRS 483.375(3) this request is your choice.

2. Get a certified copy of the marriage certificate. The paper you were handed on the day may not be it. If your county used Nevada's single form, its back says "This is not a certified copy" and "For name changes and other legal matters, you will need to obtain a certified copy," with instructions for ordering one (NRS 122.055(2)). The person who performed the marriage has 10 days to deliver the original for recording or filing (NRS 122.130(1)). A county clerk or county recorder issues the certified copy (NRS 440.175(2)(b)).

3. Do the DMV request. Use the DMV's form and bring the certificate, original or certified, plus the affidavit stating which of the three choices you picked (NRS 483.375(3)(b)). The DMV must then change the name and give you a document showing the change (NRS 483.375(4)). The same rule covers a Nevada ID card (NRS 483.8605).

4. Update your vehicle registration. A person who holds a valid registration and changes their name must tell the DMV within 30 days, giving the old and new names and addresses (NRS 482.283).

5. Update your voter registration. A registered voter who changes their name must complete a new application. You can do it at the county clerk's office, at a voter registration agency or by computer through the Secretary of State's system. If you skip it, you can be challenged and asked for proof of identity and of the name change (NRS 293.517(5)).

What Nevada law sets

Item	The rule	Source
Certificate delivered for recording	Within 10 days after the marriage, by the person who performed it	NRS 122.130(1)
Copy the DMV takes	An original or certified copy of the certificate of marriage	NRS 483.375(3)(b)
DMV fee for a name change on a license	$5.00 in the statute	NRS 483.375(5), 483.410
Telling the DMV for your registration	Within 30 days of the change	NRS 482.283
How your name will print	Identical to how it appears on your proof	NAC 483.055(2)
Domestic partners	A certificate of domestic partnership may be accepted as proof	NAC 483.055(1)(b)
Affidavit for an amended marriage certificate after a court name change	Clerk may charge up to $25, plus filing or recording fees	NRS 122.137(2)

Read 2026-11-01 off the Nevada Revised Statutes: chapters 122, 293, 482 and 483 revision stamped 9/9/2026, chapters 41, 125 and 440 stamped 4/15/2026; Nevada Administrative Code chapter 483, revised 6/7/2026. The $5.00 is the statute's fee. The total at the counter can be higher, so check the DMV's posted total before you go.

If you want a name that isn't one of the three

A new blended last name, or a new first name, doesn't fit the three choices in NRS 483.375(3)(b). That takes a court order. An adult can file a verified petition with the clerk of the district court where they live. It must state your present name, the name you want, your reason, and whether you've been convicted of a felony. It must include a signed statement, under penalty of perjury, that the change isn't for fraud. If you have a criminal record, the petition must also come with a complete set of your fingerprints, taken the way the Director of the Department of Public Safety prescribes (NRS 41.270).

You then publish notice in a newspaper at least once. The court won't require that if you prove publication would put your safety at risk, or if the reason is to match your gender identity (NRS 41.280). If no one objects within 10 days after publication, or 10 days after filing when no publication is needed, and the court finds good reason, it orders the change (NRS 41.290(1)). With that order, the DMV must change your license (NRS 483.375(1)(a)).

If you married in Nevada and got a court order changing your name, the county clerk where the license was issued must give you an amended marriage certificate. You bring a certified copy of the certificate, a certified copy of the order, a notarized affidavit the clerk prepares and you both sign, and the fees (NRS 122.137). A birth certificate follows a court order too: the State Registrar notes the name change on request, with a certified copy of the order (NRS 440.305). See Going to court without a lawyer.

If the marriage ends

In a divorce, the court can change either person's name back to any former name they have legally borne, in the decree (NRS 125.130(4)). With an original or certified copy of the decree and a DMV affidavit, you can go back to a last name you used before the marriage. If you had moved your last name to the middle, you can restore both (NRS 483.375(3)(c)). After a spouse dies, you can do the same with the marriage certificate and the death certificate, each an original or certified copy (NRS 483.375(3)(d)). See Divorce in Nevada.

Good to know

NRS 483.375 itself sets no number of days for changing your name on a license. The 30 days above is for registration. But once your license and your other records disagree, every counter gets harder. Change the DMV record and the registration together, in one trip if you can.

Social Security, passports, banks, employers and insurers each run on their own rules. Those rules aren't in Nevada law, so this page doesn't guess at them. Ask each one what it needs, and keep extra certified copies of the certificate. You'll be asked for it more than once.

Booking the DMV trip? See DMV appointment in Las Vegas.

For the DMV form, the counter total and ordering a certified copy, check with the Nevada DMV and your county clerk or recorder directly. Call 211 if you need help.