I can only open a bank account in my married name : Can this REALLY be right?

[Katisha]

I have ranted before about how Barclays will not let me use both my maiden and married names for cheques, and have made me standardise both joint and single account to one name. (Married). They will no longer accept cheques in the name I have had all my life. I don't want to have to change over all my savings accounts and everything else to the married name, so...

...have just tried to open an account in my maiden name(for which I have all the right ID) at Alliance and Leicester, only to be told that any account I open HAS to be in my married name? Can this really be true? So much for women's rights if so. I am gobsmacked.

Well I'll reprt back next week on whether I managed to achieve a bank account in the name I was born with...
Heaven help us if ID cards finally get the green light...

I had aib a/c before i got married and kept it & never changed my name.... however, i lodged cheques mistakenly made out with my husband's surname 9eg birthday presents from my MIL) without it being a n issue. AIB are part of link network so while few branches, they offer everything you need, including recognition that women don't morph into financially dependent beings on marriage,,,

Now I'm wondering if I'm legal. I've been married for 8 years and changed to DH's name for everything except my passport (as I had only got it a few months before the wedding and resented paying to have it changed!)

I'd always assumed that this would be fine as long as we booked any tickets in my maiden name. We are (finally!) going abroad this year. Does anyone know if I will I be ok with my passport as it is?

Yes you will be fine - getting married does not change your name for you. Your maiden name is also legal - we have established that. It's only illegal to operate in more than one name if you are intending to deceive for some reason. You are still the person on your passport.

It suits the banks to make us only use one name, that's all.

co-op does mine in maiden name
opened it after i was married

I have a lloyds account in my maiden name and an account in my married name. They do not have a problem with that-I use both names

Seems like some banks/branches are more capable of common sense/customer service than others then. But A&L unequivocally told me today that if I opened an account it had to be in my married name. And Barclays can't cope with two accounts in different names.

[Have only read the OP but...] Credit account in my maiden name & joint account in my married name both at The Co-Op. The joint a/c was opened solely to bank the occasional cheque made payable to "Mr & Mrs Cadbury" (usually from older relatives, despite repeated requests to the contrary !). Originally tried to credit these "Mr & Mrs" cheques to dh's account but, even with written permission from me, the bank refused. For everything else in the world ever, I remain a Wonka through and through .

Update - Halifax have let me open an account in my maiden name. And they can tell that although I use two names I am the same person. Goodbye Barclays!

So I am confused now.. this all seems so unecessary.

I have my own little question around this then, my passport is still Miss Mixedmama and pretty much everything else (bank accounts and so forth) are all Mrs DHname. Is this ok then?

Thats fine.

My mistake was trying to have one bank account in one name and a joint one in the other name. The banks can't cope.

You can operate under both your names. They are both legal.