LOS ANGELES (Map, News) - Michael Buday promised his bride he would take her last name so her father's family name could carry on.

But because California state agencies have no simple way for a man to take his wife's surname, Buday soon realized he would have to pay extra - or file a lawsuit - to fulfill his promise to his wife, Diana Bijon.

With the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Marina del Rey couple sued to change the way the state issues marriage and driver's licenses, because it cost more for him to take her name, than for her to take his.

Buday picked up a driver's license with his new name Monday, two years after they filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against the state.

For Buday to take his wife's name, he would have to pay court fees of more than $300, advertise his plans in newspaper for four weeks and get judicial approval.

For Bijon to take her husband's name, she would have had to pay a county application fee that ranges from $50 to $90.

"I never imagined the state would make it so difficult," said Buday, who was married in 2005. "It was a symbolic gesture, but it's also very real for us. It's about what our children will be named, about starting a new family on our own terms. For us, it was very traditional."

According to the settlement agreement, the state Department of Motor Vehicle and Department of Health Services changed their policies and forms to allow husbands, wives and domestic partners to take each other's last names.

"What's in a name is the message that a marriage is a union between equals," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director for the ACLU of Southern California. "California now has a marriage license for the 21st century, not the 15th century."

"When we got married, the law basically said, `Don't be silly, only a woman can change her name when she gets married.' I'm proud to be part of changing that," Diana Bijon said.