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, then update the driving licence or passport so later organisations see the new name in use. That is the whole name change UK sequence. Enrolment is not a second name change — it is an optional Gazette filing.

People who type “change my name by depol” are looking for this page’s document plus that sequence. Depol is not a separate legal form. Walkthrough: name change UK. Records: who to notify.

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 and what banks typically expect. Witnesses should not be relatives, partners or housemates. Lost a signed original later? Sign a fresh printout.

Yes. Send the original signed change of name deed plus one name-in-use document. For a UK application one piece of use evidence is enough. Most papers must be issued within 12 months; a valid UK driving licence can be older if it was issued after the deed. 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. Fastest name-in-use evidence: DVLA update, free.

No for HMPO, the DVLA, HMRC or a typical bank. Enrolment at the Royal Courts of Justice costs £53.05 from age 18 (checked 13 August 2026), publishes old name, new name and address in The Gazette, and still requires name-in-use evidence. Around 98–99% of people never enrol.

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 copy the government wording, or £14.99 for our instant PDF. Posted competitors typically charge more for paper in the post. Solicitors often quote £150–£300 for the same legal effect. Institution fees sit on top: DVLA free, adult online passport £102, optional enrolment £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.

You still need a change of name deed. Depol is not a UK legal form; it is a typing of deed poll. Use the same document, the same witnessing rules, and the same name change UK follow-up with the DVLA and HM Passport Office. Nothing extra is sold under that spelling, and nothing extra is required.

If an advert promised a special “depol” certificate, treat it as the ordinary deed. Start from how to change my name in the UK or get the PDF for £14.99.

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 for a £5 statutory fee. Use a stat dec when a named body has asked for one, or as the common Scottish name-change route.

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, a parent’s permission, or British citizenship. Under 16 needs every parental-responsibility holder’s agreement. A deputy or attorney cannot normally execute a deed for someone else without court approval.

Detail: who can change their name. Bankrupts and people under notification duties must still disclose all names used — the model wording includes that acknowledgement. Separation does not give a spouse a veto: change name after separation.

The name change is already legally effective. Next you prove it to organisations. Update the driving licence (free) or passport (£102 adult online), then 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.