Entry bubble Hannah Montana By Any Other Name...

By: Nancy | March 20, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Hannah MontanaStop the presses.

Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, is changing her name. And there's a reason why you might care.

If you don't have a "tween" girl in your family or you neither own nor operate a television set, you might not know actress/singer Miley Cyrus. She plays the television character Miley Stewart, a young teen who, with the addition of a blonde wig and sparkly clothes, secretly lives the life of a pop music star named Hannah Montana.

To add to the confusion, "Miley" is not Miley's real name. Nope. It's Destiny Hope. "Miley" is just a nickname that her real life dad and TV costar, Billy Ray Cyrus of Achy Breaky Heart fame gave her because, as a toddler, she smiled a lot. Smiley. Miley. You get it. And this week, her folks filed court papers to make "Miley" her legal name.

Ok, so why am I going all Entertainment Tonight on you? Well, the subject of changing names happens to be a popular one at USA.gov. Marriage, divorce, adoption, stardom—there are so many reasons to change your name. And there are a lot of places you have to contact in the government if you're adopting a new moniker, starting with your state or county court. Then there are the government agencies you have to notify, from Social Security to the IRS. Not to worry though, USA.gov has a special section with links to all those places, when you're ready to let the world know the new you.

And heck, we're familiar with name changes around here ourselves. Until last year, USA.gov was called FirstGov.gov. Turned out people found USA.gov to be a more intuitive name, and they just plain liked the sound of it better. Under the new name, USA.gov had 100 million visits last year. That's an increase of 12 million from the year before.

So if you or somebody you know is looking ahead to a life event that includes a new name, head over to USA.gov to find out where to start. Like Miley (and us), a new name could change your destiny.

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Entry bubble Moving Out!

By: Jake | October 15, 2007 | Category: General

postal stamp: return to sender for better address

The apartment hunt is over! I found a new place in Alexandria and I move in early November. One of the first things I will do is tell various government agencies about my change of address.

I've found in the past the best place to start is the post office. I can change my address at any post office, or go online and do it for a dollar. After changing my address, the U.S. Postal Service will forward my mail to my new address for a year.

Though USPS will not tell people who mail me I have moved, they will forward my address change information to the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS will send my tax forms to the last address change furnished by myself or USPS. The last time I moved I did not change my address with the Internal Revenue Service and my tax forms arrived at my new address (though the IRS also got my new address when I changed for W-2's at work).

If this move were taking place during tax season and I had filed my tax return before changing my address, I would have notified my old post office and the IRS of the change so my refund and any other materials went to my new address. If you are collecting social security benefits,  have a passport or receive other services from federal agencies you should notify them of your address change.

For address changes on the state level, I've found the best place to start is at the state motor vehicles office. I can get my driver's license and car registration updated here, and most department of motor vehicles offices also allow you to update your voter registration.

Many municipalities require you give notice if you have a vehicle in their limits, so they can assess and collect property tax.  In the past I have received bills from former counties, so I will notify my old municipality so they don't send me a personal property tax bill.

After all the address changes are done, the Pueblo website has a moving checklist of things I need to do. I will be addressing things such as choosing a mover and utilities next week.

| Comments [2] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: address   apartments   change   housing   irs   moving   taxes   usps