hey yall,
been a while since I posted here, but wanted to offer a bit of advice for anyone doing a name change - BE AWARE THAT YOU MAY LOSE ACCESS TO YOUR CREDIT!!
I completed my name change with my bank pretty soon after I got my decree, but that meant when I went to get a loan, they couldn't pull my credit history from the credit bureaus; apparently, and stupidly, they use your first name as an identifier when you try and access your credit report, so changing a first name will break the system. And good luck getting anyone from the credit agencies on the phone... you have to use their dispute process which takes up to 30 days... and in my case my FFS date is in 21 days! If it weren't for a sympathetic parent who is willing to co-sign, id be totally hosed... despite having good credit and the means to pay, a simple technicality could have cost me my surgery date.
Just some food for thought when you're transition planning - either borrow what you need before hand, or plan on a few months of fighting with the universe to prove you are who you say you are.
cheers!
Jane