Florida woman denied Real ID over missing 50-year-old marriage record
A 69-year-old Florida woman says she's stuck in bureaucratic limbo — and it's all because of one missing document from half a century ago.
Jane Schleppenbach, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran, recently moved to Interlachen from Washington State and tried to transfer her driver's license to Florida. But she was denied a Real ID because she couldn't produce a copy of her first marriage certificate — from when she got married at age 18 in Colorado.
'I had everything except a copy of my first marriage license from 50 years ago,' Schleppenbach told Action News Jax.
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Without that piece of paper, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles won't issue her a Real ID — something Americans will need starting May 7 to board domestic flights, enter certain federal buildings, and access military bases.
Schleppenbach says she's searched military archives, called counties, and even had a clerk check microfilm — but no record of the marriage exists.
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'I called the county and they looked in their microfilm and they didn't have it. They didn't have anything like that,' she said.
'Don't change your name — because if anything gets messed up, I look at it kind of as a harassment,' she said. 'Women face more issues due to name changes tied to marriage or divorce.'
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The DMV requires proof of all name changes to ensure identities match across official documents — a process that can be especially difficult for women and older adults with long histories.
Schleppenbach says the system is unfairly stacked against people like her.
'It makes me feel kind of oppressed. It's a very cumbersome thing, that you have to have all these different things,' she said.
Action News Jax has reached out to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for answers about how these rules affect seniors and women — and is still waiting to hear back.
She said she's still working to meet the deadline and hopes her story raises awareness — and helps others avoid the same frustrating roadblock.
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