Recently, I have seen a lot of confusion for our front line with regard to legal names. Part of this is due to how Texas is formatting Spanish names. For example the license format is:

Doe-Hernandez
John J

In looking at this, it appears that the last name is hyphenated or that Hernandez is the last name. After speaking with the DPS, Doe is the last name and Hernandez is the mother's maiden name....completely opposite of how anyone else hyphenates names. Often times, the other government issued docs are incorrect or not consistent. We are struggling with how to determine and document the legal last name. How are others dealing with this issue/resolving the discrepancies?

Doe would be correct in your example.

Here is a primer if you are interested:

http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/names.html

Randy, great link. We have trouble with setting up accounts, checking OFAC etc. due to our lack of understanding about Hispanic names.

We have seen where the social security card is issued to John J Doe Hernandez, but Doe is actually the last name. We want our records to match what the IRS has so we don't get dinged with a fine, but that's not the correct name. What is a best practice in this situation?

Back when I worked on the teller line, I saw resident cards that had the names swapped too. It seems to be a systemic issue.

Because of a change to Chapter 9 of Texas' version of the UCC in 2007, you should Use the name on the drivers license or ID certificate for Financing Statements to get a safe harbor.

Senate Bill (SB) 1540 by Fraser/Bailey. The amendments create a safe harbor for UCC filings on individuals such as sole proprietors. In order to be effective, the financing statement must have the correct name of the debtor. If the debtor is an individual, then the financing statement is accurate if it uses the individual’s driver’s license or identification certificate name.

"We have seen where the social security card is issued to John J Doe Hernandez, but Doe is actually the last name. We want our records to match what the IRS has so we don't get dinged with a fine, but that's not the correct name."

I don't understand, Doe is the last name.

Randy-

How should we put the name in our core system? Does the IRS know Doe is the last name? Or do they think Hernandez is the last name? I apologize if I'm being dense...

Zi-bat-soo-
Thanks for the info on the UCC.

Doe or Doe Hernandez. All IRS matches only look at the first four letters anyway.