My husband and I both changed our last names about a year after we were married. We picked something we both liked.

The attached is what we did. If you don't want to trust the link, contact your state representative and ask their office. It's their job to give you instructions.

Basically, we had to go to court with a form to explain why we wanted to change it and the new name we wanted. Then we had to prove we were serious by jumping through hoops- take out a classified ad in 2 newspapers in a certain time, cough up some cash and file paperwork. Go BACK to court with all the hoop jumping proof. Get a stack of new-name forms with the court seal notarized. Then submit our new name notarized stamped forms to a bunch of places.

It's not easy but it ain't sleazy. Dotted i's and crossed t's.