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The easiest chance you'll ever get to change your name
is the ten minutes you spend at that counter.

The marriage license application has a box on it asking what your name will be after the wedding. Fill it in there, and that certificate alone carries you through the Social Security card, the driver's license, and the passport. Leave it blank, decide later, and most states will send you to court for a name change order — same outcome, and the whole difference is those ten minutes.

I counted 130 of these — the places where nobody warns you at the time and it gets expensive later. The ceremony isn't the registration. Your filing status is decided by where you stand on December 31. A two-year green card has a window of exactly 90 days before it expires.Tick it off, one at a time.

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The free 30 need no email — start right now. The full version is a one-time purchase, yours for life.

Illustration: a checklist on a clipboard

Here's what it looks like — not a picture, a checklist you actually tick

The three below are real items from the checklist. Open one and see what's inside:

Both of you go apply for the marriage license together

What to bring

  • Both of youmust both be present, and you need every one
  • Original government-issued photo ID (passport / driver's license / state ID)
  • If divorced: the divorce decree. If widowed: your late spouse's death certificate.
  • Payment:Many counties take only cash or check, not credit cards

How long it takes 30–60 minutes on site with an appointment; without one you may wait two hours or more, and plenty of counties won't take walk-ins at all

Common pitfalls

  • This is set by county, not by state— fees, how you book, and witness requirements can all differ between counties in the same state
  • The spelling has to match your ID exactly; fixing a typo later means paying to redo it
Confirm your officiant returned the license to the county
What to do 90 days before a conditional green card expires 🔒Full version
The right order for changing your name, how to choose a filing status, spousal green card evidence, the 30-day Taiwan registration deadline — these live in the 100 items of the full version

Three steps to start

1

Tell me about you

Are you both US citizens? Does one of you need a green card? Do you need to register the marriage in Taiwan? Tell us, and the items that don't apply won't show up.

2

One thing at a time

What to bring, roughly how long, where the official link is — it's all written out.

3

I'll keep your progress

Make a free account and pick up on any phone or computer.

More than just a list

Plenty of guides online are just a pile of links. Here, every item has been thought through for you:

What to bring

Turning up and realizing you're missing a document is the worst

How long it takes

So you know roughly what to expect and can plan

Official link

Not a blog post — the site where you actually get it done

Common pitfalls

The mistakes other people made, avoided in advance

Tick when done

Not a zip file — a tool that remembers where you are

Buy once, use for life

Not a subscription. Future updates cost nothing.

Getting married is where it starts

Which ID do you change first so the trip isn't wasted? When does your filing status change, and is filing jointly always cheaper? What evidence does a spousal green card actually need?A two-year conditional green card: miss the 90-day window before it expires and you lose your status—— and that falls two years after the wedding, with nobody there to remind you. Registering the marriage in Taiwan has a 30-day deadline of its own. The free 30 items don't cover any of this.

Free version

$0

The 30 items that get you legally married and through the wedding

  • From looking up your county's rules to holding the marriage certificate — the legal process, start to finish
  • The skeleton of wedding planning: who to hire, when to book, how to set a budget
  • No email needed — start right now
Start free
Recommended

Full version

$9.90

All 130 items — buy once, keep for life

  • The marriage license, wedding planning, changing your name and filing taxes, the spousal green card, registering in Taiwan — all 130 items covered
  • Who to hire for your wedding team, what each of them is responsible for, and what to ask before signing
  • Items involving regulations carry an official link and the date we last verified them. Rules change; we keep checking.
  • One payment, yours for life — not a subscription, no monthly charges, and no future fees
  • Your progress stays put. Rules change, we update — no re-downloading
Unlock all 130 items

Secure payment by Stripe | one-time | not a subscription | yours for life | kept up to date

FAQ

Does the free version really need no email?

Yes — open it and start. Want to continue on another device? A free account is all it takes.

Is payment secure?

Handled by Stripe. We never see or touch your card number.

Is it a subscription?

No. $9.90 once, no monthly charges, yours for life.

What does "yours for life" mean?

Once you unlock, your account stays unlocked. Content updates and link fixes show up in your account automatically. You never pay again.

Does the content get updated?

Yes. This is a web tool, not a one-time download. When a link or a rule changes, we update it — you don't re-download anything.