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Back when Megan Aune was Megan Trisko, she and her fiance, Justin, went with two dozenrelatives and friends to the Mayan Riviera for their wedding. The sunny Mexican beach was a beautiful setting.
When the couple got back to reality… er, Wisconsin… Aune used her Mexican marriage certificate to change necessary documents from her maiden name to her married name, and that worked fine.
But when the couple moved to South St. Paul and Aune tried to get a Minnesota driver's license from the Hastings driver's license bureau, she was turned away because her acta de matrimonio was in Spanish. She was instructed to have it translated into English, so she tried calling translators from the phone book, but no one returned her call. In frustration, she contacted the Watchdog.
"I think this is silly, considering I have a valid Wisconsin license with my married name, and possess both my Social Security cards that show my previous name and my new married name from the federal government," she said.
Destination weddings are a huge trend, with brides and grooms choosing to have their ceremonies in a gorgeous/romantic/exotic place, often a foreign country, where neither family lives. The Watchdog figured lots of readers must be running into these matrimonial potholes, so she talked to Lisa Hager, the driver services coordinator for Driver and Vehicle Services, which is part of the state's Department of Public Safety.
A state can differ in its requirements both from other states and the federal government, Hager said. Minnesota is fussier about people who get married outside the country: Their documents have to be translated, and not just by a cousin who took high school Spanish but by someone who meets state qualifications. Translation costs vary, but figure on about $50 per page.
To get a new Minnesota driver's license, you need a primary document, such as a certified birth certificate or an unexpired passport. You also must have a secondary document, which can be another primary document, a driver's license from another state, a Social Security card or a firearm permit, among others. If the names on the two documents don't match because of marriage, a translated marriage certificate is needed, too.
Aune decided to renew her passport in her married name, which she intended to do anyway, and use that as her primary document, with her Wisconsin driver's license as her secondary document. But — here's the sticking point in her particular case — she had previously lived in Minnesota and had a state driver's license in her maiden name. So, she also needs to prove her name change by having a translated marriage certificate. Aune has found assistance with that step, so she can move forward.
Hager is sympathetic to the rigmarole new brides must undergo when they'd much rather be thinking about using their new crystal and china.
But, she said, "We do this to prevent fraud, to be able to verify who somebody really is."
Editor's note: Feel like an underdog because of a problem with a business, government agency or school? Maybe the Pioneer Press Watchdog can help. Go to www.twincities.com and follow the link to our Watchdog home page. Or call 651-228-5419 or e-mail watchdog@pioneerpress. com.
DESTINATION WEDDING TIPS
If you're dreaming of a destination wedding outside the United States, here are some tips to keep the paperwork from giving you a nightmare:
Have a lovely ceremony there, but get legally married here, says Laura Hotvet, owner of Mother of the Bride Weddings and Events in Excelsior. Figuring out the necessary paperwork, even in an English-speaking country such as Ireland, can be time-consuming, expensive and confusing.
If you feel uneasy about the validity of getting married in another country, cover your bases by getting married twice, once in the United States before or after your trip, according to Judith T. Younger, University of Minnesota family law professor. That way you can use your U.S. marriage certificate for purposes such as changing your name.
In some countries, such as Italy and Chile, a religious ceremony doesn't mean you're legally married like it does in the United States. Even if you have, say, a traditional Catholic Mass, you still need a separate civil formality and a government-issued certificate, Hotvet says.
Different countries require different documents. For example, some ask for certified proof that you're single or divorced, says Thomas R. Anderson III of Robichaud & Anderson, a Minneapolis law firm specializing in immigration matters. And they may require those English documents be translated into the country's language. Do your research months in advance, he says — this information is often available at the country's embassy in the United States.
Countries also require different amounts of time you have to be there before the wedding — it can be several days.
Wedding planners and resort personnel may give helpful advice. But to be positive there's no trouble with your marriage certificate once you get home — especially if the ceremony is someplace unusual or far away — arrange to bring it to the country's U.S. Embassy or Consulate so it can be certified there, Anderson said. Be forewarned that consulates may have limited hours or be far from your wedding site.
If it turns out later your exotic ceremony in Bali wasn't considered a legal marriage at home — according to rock legend, that happened to Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall — you still have some protection if, say, you get divorced and believe you deserve half the bank account. Common-law marriage isn't legal in Minnesota, but there is the "doctrine of putative marriage," which says if you in good faith consider yourself married, the law agrees, Younger says.
If you have unusual legal issues, consult with a lawyer, Anderson said. For example, the law in the country where the marriage occurs could affect the way a prenuptial agreement signed in the United States has to be carried out.
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