You should really be using the person’s correct legal name, regardless of registration.
With married women we do have two scenarios. Mary Jones acquired a property, got married, changed her name legally for all purposes to Mary Smith but her maiden name still appears on title. She just never got around to changing that. Her correct legal name of Mary Smith should still be used. Why? It’s simple, that’s her correct legal name.
The next scenario is that Mary Jones now has two names. She’s Mary Jones at the office, but at home she now uses Mary Smith. So, she still is using two names. Here, you have a choice! Select Mary Jones, because that’s the name that appears on title and it is indeed her legal name, she just happens to have two.
Really, there’s not that much of a justification in using a name that the person may have previously had 40 years ago. It’s not their name now. It used to be. Let’s say you bought a property from Brookfield. You’ve heard of them. They own Royal LePage. But, for some reason you want to continue to call them Brascan. They had acquired the property in 1957 and they still have it. Call them Brookfield, that’s what they are called now.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker