What Is a Change of Name Deed in the UK?

A change of name deed is the legal paper that records a UK name change. You declare that you give up the old name, adopt the new name for all purposes, and require everyone to use it. Once it is dated and signed in wet ink in both names with witnesses, it is effective immediately. No central register issues it.

There is no prescribed crest, watermark or government letterhead. What makes it a deed is the wording plus proper execution. GOV.UK publishes model wording and says a specialist agency or solicitor may charge a fee to make one — that is the £14.99 PDF, which you can skip with the free template.

Process after you hold the paper: how to change my name in the UK. Etymology and what a deed cannot do: what is a deed poll?

Yes. HM Passport Office caseworker guidance states that unenrolled deed polls and change of name deeds are the same thing. Officers must accept them when they are dated, wet-ink signed in both names, witnessed, contemporaneous, and there are no doubts about genuineness — including deeds made online.

They are also told not to make inappropriate comments about the company that issued an online deed. Enrolment is a different filing: the same kind of deed, placed on the public record at the Royal Courts of Justice. Comparison: enrolled vs unenrolled.

Our PDF title is CHANGE OF NAME DEED (DEED POLL) so both search phrases and both HMPO labels sit on the face of the document.

Fill the current name, new name and address into the government model wording, or use a personalised PDF that already merges those fields. Print three or four copies. Sign in both names in wet ink while two independent adults watch, then date it. From age 16 you execute your own; under 16 needs full parental-responsibility consent.

If you are unsure which instrument you need at all, use the which-document checker first. Restrictions on the name itself: what names get refused. Child pack: child deed poll.

The change of name deed is how you change my name by deed poll. Execute it, keep spare originals, gather a document showing the new name in use, then update your records. Passport and DVLA deed-poll applications both ask for that name-in-use evidence. Enrolment is not a second name change — it is an optional Gazette filing.

Walkthrough: name change UK. Records: who to notify. Timing of each stage: how long a deed poll takes.

Three declarations: that you renounce the former name, that you adopt the new name for all purposes, and that you require all persons to address you by the new name. The government model also covers telling the police where a notification duty applies, and that passport authorities may check both names. Our documents reproduce that wording character-for-character.

There is no extra magic paragraph that “registers” you. HMPO cares that the deed is contemporaneous, dated, wet-ink, signed in both names, and witnessed. Copy the model carefully if you DIY — free change of name deed template.

Wet ink only. Sign once in the old name and once in the new name while two independent witnesses, each 18 or over, physically watch. They then sign and add names and addresses. Print and sign three to four copies so each ink-signed copy is an original. A photocopy of a signed deed is what HMPO rejects.

HMPO’s written minimum is one witness; we still use two because that is the GOV.UK unenrolled example. GOV.UK warns that some organisations will not accept a deed poll if a witness lives at the same address or is a close relative, so choose independent adults — see who can witness a deed poll. Lost a signed original later? Sign a fresh printout.

Yes. Send the original signed change of name deed and the supporting evidence HMPO requests. For a typical UK application, one qualifying name-in-use record is normally enough. Most records must be from the last 12 months; a valid driving licence can be older if issued after both the deed and the British passport being renewed or replaced. Adult online passports cost £102 with no extra name-change surcharge.

There is no separate “name change passport” product. You apply for a new book. Guide: change name on passport. A DVLA deed-poll application also needs a document showing the new name, so a licence is not automatically the first record to update: driving licence guide.

No for HMPO, the DVLA, HMRC or a typical bank. Adult enrolment (age 18 or over) at the Royal Courts of Justice costs £53.05 (checked 24 September 2026), publishes old name, new name and address in The Gazette, and still requires name-in-use evidence. Some organisations may require enrolment; check their requirements before paying.

GOV.UK notes that some organisations may insist on an enrolled deed. Ask that organisation in writing before you pay the court. We do not sell enrolment. Full comparison: enrolled vs unenrolled deed polls.

The deed itself is free if you use government wording, or £14.99 for our personalised PDF and signing instructions. Other providers quote for their own services and delivery methods. Record-update costs are separate: a name-only DVLA update is free, an adult online passport costs £102, and optional High Court enrolment costs £53.05.

Breakdown: deed poll cost. Downloadable sourced tables: open data. If you want both a deed and a statutory declaration generated from the same details, that is the Name Change Pack at £25.

Yes. A free template is legally valid if the wording is correct and you execute it as a deed. GOV.UK warns that some organisations may not accept a deed you made yourself; in practice passport and DVLA refusals come from poor execution, not from DIY. Our paid PDF exists for formatting, instructions and a wording guarantee.

Honest comparison of free versus £14.99: free deed poll template. For under-16s, DIY most often fails on consent — use the child pack or do not change the name.

A change of name deed is the everyday England and Wales instrument: two independent witnesses, no solicitor visit. A statutory declaration is a statement of fact signed in front of a solicitor, notary or magistrate with witnessing arranged separately. Use a stat dec when a named body has asked for one, where that document meets the recipient’s evidence requirements.

Hub: statutory declarations. Name-change stat dec: £9.99 template. If a court has asked for an affidavit, skip both of our products and take legal advice.

Anyone aged 16 or over who lives in the UK and has capacity to understand the change. You do not need a reason or British citizenship, and from 16 you usually need no parent’s permission; HM Passport Office says a court order, such as a care order, can still require everyone with parental responsibility to agree until 18. Under 16 needs every parental-responsibility holder’s agreement.

If someone cannot make their own deed, HM Passport Office’s change of name guidance accepts either a court order allowing another person to change their name, or that person’s statutory declaration giving the old and new names and the reasons, supported by additional evidence. Detail: who can change their name.

A new name does not end other duties. In England and Wales, GOV.UK’s bankruptcy restrictions say a bankrupt person must not borrow more than £500 without telling the lender, or run a business without giving the name they were made bankrupt in. Registered offenders must tell the police about a new name, and the model wording includes that acknowledgement. Separation does not give a spouse a veto: change name after separation.

GOV.UK says you can use your signed deed poll straight away as proof of your new name. Next you prove it to organisations: gather a document showing the new name in use, then update the passport (£102 adult online), driving licence (free), bank, HMRC, employer, NHS and the rest. Print spare originals before you post one. A deed poll does not rewrite a will or a birth certificate.

Order: who to notify checklist. Passport evidence rules: change name on passport. Birth certificates stay as they are: birth certificates and deed polls.