[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1389

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  ANTHONY M. BUCCO

District 25 (Morris and Somerset)

Assemblyman  JAY WEBBER

District 26 (Essex, Morris and Passaic)

Assemblywoman  BETTYLOU DECROCE

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 Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on March 12, 2018, 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 [his] the licensee’s own handwriting.  For purposes of this section, legal name shall mean the name recorded on a birth certificate unless otherwise changed by marriage, divorce, 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, divorce, 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] chief administrator 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 ¹[New Jersey Merit Rating Plan] Motor Vehicle Violations Surcharge System¹ 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 [his] the licensee’s 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, the chief administrator shall permit a licensee to record the licensee’s ¹[pre-marital] birth¹ name on the licensee’s driver’s license upon submission of the licensee’s ¹most recent¹ marriage certificate and the death certificate of the licensee’s spouse.  The licensee shall also be required to attest, in a manner and form determined by the chief administrator, that the licensee has not been convicted of a crime, does not have any criminal charges pending, and is not seeking the change of name for purposes of avoiding or obstructing criminal prosecution, avoiding creditors, or for perpetrating a civil or criminal fraud.

¹For the purposes of this subsection, “birth name” means the
name appearing on a person’s birth certificate.¹

(cf:  P.L.1999, c.28, s.1)

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.