Stuart v. Board of Supervisors of Elections
Court of Appeals of Maryland
295 A.2d 223 (1972)
Mary Emily Stuart (plaintiff), pursuant to an antenuptial agreement with her husband Samuel Austell Jr., kept using her maiden name after their marriage and moving to Maryland, and disclosed her consistent maiden-name use when registering to vote in Howard County. The Board of Supervisors of Elections for Howard County (defendant) nonetheless told her she had to complete a formal name-change request under Maryland law -- which the Board understood to make a wife's surname automatically become her husband's upon marriage -- and cancelled her registration when she declined. Stuart sued, and after an evidentiary hearing at which she testified she used her given name in every facet of her life, the trial court ruled for the Board.
Whether a married woman's surname becomes that of her husband's upon marriage if she evidences a clear intent to consistently and non-fraudulently use her birth name after marriage.