Another new law here in the Golden State permits prospective newlyweds a wider choice of last names during their marriage. Effective immediately, partners can:
~ Take either spouse's current last name.
~ Take either spouse's birth name.
~ Create a hyphenated combination of the last two last names.
~ Create a new name using a segment of both spouse's last names.
Sure, if your last name is Dunderhead, you'd definitely want to do some surgery. Ditto for Klediddlehopper. Hollywood stars have changed their lackluster names for years.
But this new law really lets you do some creative wordsmithing. If my daughter had married a Mr. Christian, she could be Elizabeth Christmas (using her former married name, Limas). If my brother's last name was Dimmel, and he married Miss Yonowitz, they could now be Mr. and Mrs. Dimwitz. Pretty cool, eh?
