Changing from a Miss to Ms. How?

[crikeyitshot]

I'm getting a bit confused. I want to change my title to Ms but I'm not entirely sure how to go about it. I had thought it would be quite a straight-forward process but I was reading on the f-word Ms: is it really so difficult?! and realised I may be about to walk into a world of annoyance. My passport is due for renewal, can I just change my title when I send off my new one then use it as 'proof' for banks etc?

When you fill in any forms just use Ms. I've never needed to prove anything but then I'm not bothered if I'm addressed as Miss/Mrs/Ms as long as they use the right surname, which is the one I was given at birth!

I have a new UK passport and it doesn't state miss/ms/mrs.

On all other documents I just fill in forms with Ms and that works fine for the most part. But I still get Mrs and occasionally Miss on post.

Lloyds TSB have had an issue with changing me to Ms. I even went in to talk to a bank manager to get it changed and he said "oh, have you recently got divorced?"... Sigh. He said it would be changed but they still have me as miss on their system.

Thank you. I have been gradually changing the easy ones but thought banks would be a problem. Will just go in and personally glare across the counter at Nationwide until they change it. It is such a small thing but I just don't feel like a Miss.

Lloyds are the same with me Bunny . I do my business banking with them and it annoys me no end that any correspondence they send me is headed with 'Dear Sirs.'

When I phone them up as well, they always refer to me as Miss - despite the fact that it says Ms on all my cards.

I don't like titles at all, but when pushed, I've used "Ms" since I was probably 16 or 17, whether married or not. So, fortunately bank accounts, credit cards and stuff I think are all Ms or nothing. It's a pain when people "assume" and just assign Miss or Mrs based on their assessment of your "status," and they may tut and click when you correct them, but it's your right to do so, so ignore their irritation. Maybe if enough people do it, "officials," will start to recognise it's not doing them any favours to assume.

You shouldn't need to glare at all. You don't need any proof to change to Ms.

I flit between Mrs and Ms, and my original name and my married, double-barrelled name all the time. I just forget, and I've been married four years so CBA changing now.
Never had any problems, call yourself what you want.

Right-o. Smiling pleasantly it is.

I've put Ms down on every form I've filled in since I was about 12. University, the NHS and Nationwide still have me on their systems as Miss though. It makes me really stabby but for some reason I don't feel like I can take it up with them. I'll take great pleasure from informing them all that my title is Dr in a few months time. It'll be so nice to have a title that gives away nothing other than the fact that I've spent a long time at university. Even Ms gives impressions - either that you're divorced or that you're a feminist. Why can't we just have a system like in France where you're automatically Madame once you reach a certain age?

Just use Ms on everything,I have since I was 17 and I'm 43 now!

Can I ask why, if you are not married you are miss?

Queen,ime next time you have them on the phone just ask them to update your records. I've never had any bother at all.

This is making me think - no one actually ever calls me Miss, Ms or Mrs
(sh! I'm not really married to The Dinklage)

Easy enough, just tell people That It Is So and use it on all forms. No formality necessary!

PearlyWhites - because some women don't like their marital status advertised on every database record, form, letter and item of mail they receive. It's as little business of anyone else's as a man's marital status is. Cos you know, they all get to be Mr.

I just tick or write Ms on forms. You don't have to do anything official. I've never changed any though; any with Miss on, still have Miss on.

queenstromba congratulations on your soon to be Dr-hood but unfortunately I know a few female doctors who are regularly still called Miss or Mrs. One works in A&E and is more often than not called Nurse.

Didn't you know doctors are all boys?

Thanks Bunnylion. I'll be an academic doctor so it should stick at university at least - I already get addressed as Dr by a lot of students.

I've never really understood why bits of paperwork etc need a title at all. What's wrong with X.Y.Zurname on bits of plastic/bits of post?

Even if a bank wants to phone/address someone in person; would "hello, may I speak to X.Y.Zurname?" be impolite?

OP-get your title changed on your current account, and then use that if you encounter problems. Shouldn't be much of a problem, just inform organisations as and when when you want to change to Ms, and just use it on anything which is new.

I feel that I must apologise to Nationwide. I looked at my card and it does say Ms. I think it might be the case that it used to say Miss but at some point they took note of me putting Ms on a change of address form. My nectar card has Miss on it though which means that either Ms wasn't an option 10 years ago or they just ignored it (I've recently started putting Mr if Ms isn't an option).

Ms is pronounced the same as Miss though isn't it.

I hate it when people mistakenly think it is pronounced differently.

I say them differently.

I thought Miss was 'M-i-sss' and Ms was 'Mizz'?

I say them differently too.

BTW, I agree with many of the other responses - just start using it. I've been using Ms since my teens, both before and after marriage.

No, they should both be pronounced the same. I was told on MN years ago...