TN 1 (02-10)

See Regional Chief Counsel Precedent, PR 02720.000 State Laws on Name Changes based on Common-Law Marriage, to determine whether the US common-law marriage document submitted is acceptable evidence of a name change event for the State where the marriage was legalized.

There may be more than one legal opinion listed for the relevant State. Therefore, scroll through the entire section when searching, to locate any opinion relating to the type of document submitted.

If there is no legal opinion for a State-issued common law marriage document consult with your Regional Office (RO). The RO should request a legal opinion from the Regional Chief Counsel on whether the common law marriage document is acceptable evidence for a name change.

For a name change on the SSN, only accept evidence as prescribed in the opinion. Do not accept other evidence of common-law marriage.

NOTE: When a legal opinion precedent is required to determine whether the document submitted is acceptable for a name change, SSA does not follow common law. SSA follows statutory law in these situations.

See also:

• GN 01010.815, FOs Initial Request for a Legal Opinion

• RM 10212.055, Evidence Required to Process a Name Change based on Marriage, Civil Union and Domestic Partnership