How to deal with beneficiary with no last name

[Guest Ignatius J. Reilly]

We’ve encountered a unique situation with a newly hired employee. The employee is a male, is married, and his wife’s name does not have a last name (she is simply "Martina"). We have a photocopy of her marriage certificate and her U.S. passport (that shows she was born in Illinois), both of which show her name as Martina. The problem is that our PeopleSoft system and the insurance carriers require a last name. We’ve already been advised by the employee not to use his last name for his wife because it’s not accurate. We have tentatively enrolled the wife as Martina Martina.

Has anyone seen such a situation before? Any thoughts as to proper way to address? One wisenheimer that i asked said to call the WWE and see how they handle it. Joke's on him, though, as my understanding is that WWE entertainers are independent contractors and not employees.

Thank you in advance for any insight.

[david rigby]

Throw around some weight?

It's EE's responsibility to provide complete and accurate information. Tell EE that she won't be covered at all without a last name?

(hey, it's just a thought.)

[masteff]

If her US Passport really shows her as having only one name, then you have no real standing to refuse it.

My thought is of the first time I ran across "NMI" as in "John NMI Doe"... "no middle initial". Here it would be NLN "no last name". (Some places use FNU/LNU "first/last name unknown", but that's less appropriate here since she simply doesn't have one.)

First I'd call my insurance carrier and ask what they suggest since that's the benefit most likely to get messed up as a result.

[Appleby]

What would be done for Cher ? Madonna?

[Draper55]

What would be done for Cher ? Madonna?

do cher and madonna need health inurance?

[Guest Ignatius J. Reilly]

Throw around some weight?

It's EE's responsibility to provide complete and accurate information. Tell EE that she won't be covered at all without a last name?

(hey, it's just a thought.)

Unfortunately, apparently, this is complete and accurate. I changed the name in my question (for obvious reasons) so as not to infringe upon the beneficary's privacy, but notwithstanding that, when you look at her passport, first name is "Martina" and middle and last name are completely blank.

[00hskrgrl]

will the software let you use symbols like "_" or "."? Just something to complete the last name blank without putting in an actual last name?

[Guest Ignatius J. Reilly]

If her US Passport really shows her as having only one name, then you have no real standing to refuse it.

My thought is of the first time I ran across "NMI" as in "John NMI Doe"... "no middle initial". Here it would be NLN "no last name". (Some places use FNU/LNU "first/last name unknown", but that's less appropriate here since she simply doesn't have one.)

First I'd call my insurance carrier and ask what they suggest since that's the benefit most likely to get messed up as a result.

Thank you very much for your thoughts. I had not considered an option along the lines of NMI/NLN, and I agree that, given the relative importance of medical benefits, i'm happy to let the health insurance carrier make the decision here (and let that determine her last name field for all other purposes in our systems and with vendors/carriers).

[Guest Ignatius J. Reilly]

will the software let you use symbols like "_" or "."? Just something to complete the last name blank without putting in an actual last name?

Unfortunately, it does not. We can get away with a two-letter "last name," no less.