Californian men win right to take wives' surnames

Traditionally, all a bride has ever had to do to take her husband's name is simply sign the marriage certificate.

Under the new legislation approved on Monday, men will be able to do the same and avoid the costly and time-consuming process of having to go to court to drop their name in favour of their better half.

In Britain, men taking their wife's surname are advised to make the change by deed poll. Even though government departments, like the passport office and the DVLA, accept marriage certificates as documentary proof, many banks and building societies insist on a legal name change.

Under current Californian law, a man who wants to take his wife's name must file a petition, pay about £250 in fees, place a notice in a local newspaper and appear before a judge.

San Francisco Assemblywoman Fiona Ma introduced the bill after a couple, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a discrimination lawsuit earlier this year against the state.

Mike Buday and his wife, Diana Bijon, wanted to use Bijon's surname after they married in 2005. They said the process to do so violated the equal protection clause in the US Constitution.

"It takes California law and puts it on a time machine from the 15th century to the 21st century," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The law passed despite opposition from conservatives who were critical of the rights it would extend to same-sex couples.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore said he withdrew his support after it was expanded to include domestic partners, who register with the authorities as a couple even though they aren't married. It is often seen as a way for gay and lesbian couples to formalise their relationships.

"When it was expanded, I got uncomfortable," said Mr DeVore. "I thought, 'We're going way too fast on overturning traditional society.'" Seven other states, New York, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Georgia, North Dakota and Louisiana, already have statutes allowing equal name-change processes for men and women.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a stance on the new law, which still has to be rubber-stamped by the California Senate. But one aide said: "It would have made life much easier and meant far less spelling mistakes if Arnold had taken his wife Maria Shriver's second name."