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Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com

Stuck in the middle of name dispute

By Julie Muhlstein, Herald Columnist

The answer is Diane. The question is, what middle name was Hillary Rodham Clinton given at birth?

For my purposes, "Diane" doesn't matter. With the example of a woman so well known, I'm only trying to show how conventional it is to use a maiden name as a middle name.

We are free, in this country, to use the names we choose. I chose to keep my family name while sharing the last name of my husband and children. It's neither new nor radical.

In 1842, Mary Ann Todd was married and became Mary Todd Lincoln. The 1885 wedding of Laura Elizabeth Ingalls and homesteader Almanzo Wilder created the name of author Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Last week, the name on my driver's license -- Julie Ahrens Muhlstein -- gave me trouble when I went to apply for a passport. I left the downtown Everett post office fuming, and with names popping into my head: Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Courteney Cox Arquette.

I doubt that any first-line bureaucrats denied them passports.

The U.S. State Department passport application asks for proof of U.S. citizenship (mine is a birth certificate, from Spokane, with the name Julie Ann Ahrens), and proof of identity (my Washington driver's license has a birth date matching my birth certificate). For added measure, I brought my 1982 marriage certificate and other documents.

Together, it all shows who I am more accurately than if "Ann" appeared as a middle name on my license.

It wasn't enough, not for the individual behind the Everett passport counter. She took a quick look and questioned why "Ann" wasn't on my driver's license. Refusing to process my application, she said I'd need to either get a new driver's license, minus the "Ahrens" maiden name, or go to court for a legal name change.

My 9-year-old was with me, with his birth certificate and his father's death certificate. The woman not only accepted his passport application, she required me to sign for it -- even as she rejected my proof of identity.

I considered getting a new driver's license, but I'm traveling soon. I was worried about airport security with a temporary license. And replacing a lost driver's license costs $15. That's not as pricey as legally changing a name. The tab for that is $100 in Snohomish County District Court.

As I stewed, I started wondering whether I really needed court action to prove what's already so clear in my documents.

Online, I found a Washington State Bar Association publication, "Marriage in Washington State." It says to notify motor vehicle and licensing departments, Social Security and post offices, employers, creditors and voter-registration officials if marriage brings a name change. There's nothing saying I need to go to court to use Julie Ahrens Muhlstein.

"People change their names for all different reasons," Everett District Court Judge Roger Fisher said Tuesday. "It can run from 'I forgot when I got divorced and want my maiden name back' to gender change to 'My stepfather raised me and I want his name.' As far as passport purposes, a lot of people come for this same problem, this is easiest," said Fisher, who oversees about 10 name changes per week.

For a legal name change, a person fills out a petition and a vital statistics sheet, "and basically swears they're not doing it for illegal or fraudulent purposes," Fisher said. By the time I talked with the judge, I had taken action of my own.

I re-read what the State Department wanted -- proof of U.S. citizenship and proof of identity. With those items in hand, I drove Tuesday morning to Marysville City Hall, another passport outlet.

There, a woman looked carefully at my license and birth certificate. I filled out a form about my expired passport, issued in 1980 before I was married. I wrote a $75 check to the State Department and one for $25 to the city of Marysville -- on checks that say Julie Ahrens Muhlstein. The woman handed me a receipt, and I was on my way.

If the State Department says no passport, I'll be back to square one -- or to Everett District Court. While waiting, I'll wonder why the rules appear to differ depending on where you apply.

I'd like to think the woman in Everett was just being especially cautious. I hope she wasn't judging me by the jeans I wore that day. In Marysville on Tuesday, I wore a gray suit. I didn't look like a mom with a little kid in tow.

I'd like to think we're all being treated fairly. I'd like to think all this expensive effort is making Americans safer.

While I'd like to think all that, I don't.



Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.