We changed my wife’s name with the SSA when we got married in '84. In 2002 we filled our taxes electronically for the first time, it was rejected.
Took a while to figure out it was because my wife’s social security number was under the wrong name.
We couldn’t find the marriage license that they needed or her birth certificate.
A trip to downtown Detroit to the Federal building and county building was required. 911 was still a thing so the security was insane, they had cement barriers surrounding the buildings and everyone was searched.
But once we got the papers it went smoothly.
The bigger problem was getting confirmation that almost 15 years of taxes was applied to her account. Took a while but we did get written confirmation.
I agree with @necoro this is a case where a representative should help.
