Sponsored by:
Senator ANTHONY R. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
Senator JOSEPH PENNACCHIO
District 26 (Essex, Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires MVC to accept death certificate as proof of name change.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Transportation Committee on November 7, 2013, with amendments.
An Act concerning motor vehicle documents and amending P.L.1987, c.20.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1987, c.20 (C.39:3-9a) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. Each driver's license issued pursuant to R.S.39:3-10 shall have the legal name of the licensee endorsed thereon in 1[his] the licensee's1 own handwriting. For purposes of this section, legal name shall mean the name recorded on a birth certificate unless otherwise changed by marriage, divorce1,1 or order of court. The [director] chief administrator may require that only the legal name be recorded on the driver's license. A person who has been issued a driver's license pursuant to R.S.39:3-10 whose name is changed due to marriage, divorce1,1 or by order of court shall notify the [director] chief administrator of the change in name within two weeks after the change is made.
A person who fails to notify the [Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles] 1[Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission] chief administrator1 of a change in name as required in this section shall be subject to a fine. A person who is fined under this section for a violation of this section shall not be subject to a surcharge under the New Jersey Merit Rating Plan as provided in section 6 of P.L.1983, c.65 (C.17:29A-35).
For the purposes of this section, a digitized signature image shall constitute a licensee's signature in 1[his] the licensee's1 own handwriting. A digitized signature image is an electronic representation of a person's written signature.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section, 1[a widow may apply to resume her maiden name for purposes of this section, provided she presents to the chief administrator a certificate of marriage to her deceased spouse and the spouse's death certificate] the chief administrator shall permit a licensee to record the licensee's pre-marital name on the licensee's driver's license upon submission of the licensee's marriage certificate and the death certificate of the licensee's spouse1 . The 1[applicant] licensee1 shall also be required to attest, in a manner and form determined by the chief administrator, that 1[she] the licensee1 has not been convicted of a crime 1[and],1 does not have any criminal charges pending 1[against her]1, and 1[that she]1 is not seeking the change of name for purposes of avoiding or obstructing criminal prosecution 1[or for],1 avoiding creditors 1,1 or 1for1 perpetrating a civil or criminal fraud.
(cf: P.L.1999, c.28, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.