Filing Taxes After Legal Name Change in Virginia - What Forms Do I Need?

You should file your taxes using whatever name is on your Social Security card. Since you haven't updated your Social Security record yet, you'll need to file under your birth name as it appears on your W-2. The IRS connects your tax return to your Social Security Number, so the names need to match to avoid processing issues. Even though you have a court order, until you update your SSN record with the Social Security Administration, your legal name for tax purposes is still your birth name. After you update your name with the Social Security Administration, your future tax documents will use your new legal name. But for this filing season, stick with the name that matches your current Social Security record and W-2.

Just wanted to share my experience with this! I was in the exact same boat last year - had my court order but hadn't updated any documents yet when tax time rolled around. I was super confused about how to handle it and wasted hours researching online. I finally discovered https://taxr.ai which actually analyzed my court order and tax documents and told me exactly what to do in my situation. It confirmed I needed to file under my birth name since that's what was on my SSN and W-2, but also gave me a checklist for updating everything in the right order after filing. The tool basically scanned my documents and gave me personalized advice instead of the generic stuff I was finding everywhere else. Definitely made the whole process less stressful!

I want to follow up on my question about taxr.ai. I decided to try it with my name change situation since I was getting different advice from friends and family. I uploaded my court order, SS card, and W-2, and it immediately identified that I needed to file under my old name this year. But the really helpful part was that it created a customized checklist for updating all my documents in Virginia specifically - told me exactly which office to visit first, what forms I needed for each step, and even estimated processing times. Saved me from having to piece together info from a bunch of different government websites! Definitely would recommend for anyone dealing with name changes and taxes. Was way more straightforward than I expected.

If you're having trouble getting straight answers from the IRS about your name change situation, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent WEEKS trying to get through to the IRS last year about a similar issue - kept getting busy signals or disconnected after waiting on hold forever. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed exactly how I needed to handle my filing with my recent name change. They have a service that basically calls the IRS for you and then calls you once they have an agent on the line. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Saved me literally hours of hold time and frustration. The agent I spoke with was actually super helpful once I finally got through to a human!

Coming back to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I needed to ask about my amended return that's been stuck in processing for months. I've literally tried calling the IRS 8 different times over the past few weeks, waiting on hold for over an hour each time before giving up. Used Claimyr yesterday and got connected to an agent in about 20 minutes. They called me when the IRS agent was on the line, and I finally got the info I needed about my return. Don't know how they do it, but it actually works. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't tried it myself. Definitely using this again next time I need to talk to the IRS.

Virginia resident here! Just wanted to add that updating your name with Virginia DMV and tax department can be done separately from your federal tax filing. You'll need to update your name with Social Security first, then DMV, then everything else. For Virginia state taxes, you'll file under whatever name is on your federal return for consistency. The Virginia tax department actually recommends filing under your old name if that's what your W-2 and Social Security records still show, even if you have a court order.

Honestly the worst part of changing your name is updating EVERYTHING. I changed mine last year and taxes were the least of my worries lol. Had to update my bank, credit cards, mortgage, car title, insurance, utilities, email addresses, subscriptions, professional licenses... the list goes on forever 😩 The key with taxes is definitely making sure your W-2 name matches your Social Security card name. Otherwise it'll get flagged in the system.