Dear Liz: I use my first name, maiden name and married last name as my legal name. Just before we got married 46 years ago, I told my husband-to-be that I didn’t want to take his last name. I lost that argument. If he passes before me, I want to drop his last name. I know I would need to change my Social Security card but would I need to change everything else like my house deed?
Answer: Yes. Whenever you change your name, you can expect a mound of paperwork. You’ll start by changing the name on your identification cards, including Social Security, your driver’s license and your passport. Be sure to notify Social Security before filing your tax return, since the IRS uses Social Security records to verify your identity.
After your IDs are updated, you’ll change the name on other paperwork, such as voter registrations, property deeds, the U.S. Postal Service, banks, insurance companies, utilities and so on.
When you married, your marriage certificate and your previous identification cards were likely all you needed to update IDs. Had you divorced, you could have included the name change as part of the paperwork to help change your identification cards. In other situations, you typically need to get a court order to legally change your name. Filing fees depend on where you live. In California, for example, you can expect to pay between $435 to $450 and the process typically takes two or three months.
Dear Liz: I want to apply for a benefit based on my spouse’s Social Security but how long do we have to have been married? I was not eligible until the Social Security Fairness Act changed the rules. We have been married for four years in May. I am not receiving Social Security benefits since I worked for over 30 years for the government and do not have enough credits to qualify based on my earnings.
Answer: You typically need to be married for “one continuous year” before applying for a spousal benefit, according to the Social Security Administration.
Had you divorced, the rules would be different. Divorced spousal benefits require the marriage to have lasted at least 10 years, and two years must have passed since the divorce.
For those who don’t know, the Social Security Fairness Act repealed the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset that reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for people who received pensions from jobs that didn’t pay into Social Security.
The Social Security Administration says most affected people will see their adjusted payments starting in April. Those who never applied for Social Security because of the old rules can do so now.
Dear Liz: I am 74 and my husband is 68. We have decided to sell our last home and rent. Do we have to pay taxes, specifically capital gains, on the sale of our last home or are we able to keep the sale proceeds in full?
Answer: Any home sale is potentially subject to capital gains taxes. Your gain is determined by subtracting your tax basis — the price you paid for the home, plus any qualifying improvements — from the net sales proceeds. If you owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least two of the previous five years, you can exclude up to $250,000 (or $500,000 if married filing jointly) of home sale profits. You would owe taxes on the capital gains that exceed those limits.
A large-enough capital gain could affect how much you pay for Medicare. The “income-related adjustment amount,” or IRMAA, is based on your income two years prior, so a big gain in 2025 could increase your premiums in 2027.
You’d be smart to talk to a tax pro before you sell so you understand the ramifications.
Liz Weston, Certified Financial Planner®, is a personal finance columnist. Questions may be sent to her at 3940 Laurel Canyon, No. 238, Studio City, CA 91604, or by using the “Contact” form at asklizweston.com.
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