What Is a Deed Poll?

A deed poll contains three declarations: that you renounce your former name, that you adopt your new name for all purposes, and that you require everyone to address you by the new name. The wording is settled by long usage and by the government model wording — our documents reproduce it character-for-character.

There is no prescribed paper, seal, crest or issuer. What makes it a deed is the correct wording plus proper execution. GOV.UK publishes the model wording and says a specialist agency or a solicitor can make the deed poll for you and may charge a fee — which is exactly the service we sell, and which you can skip by using the free template. HM Passport Office also calls this paper a change of name deed.

Not sure which instrument you need at all? Start with the which-document checker.

Execution. You sign the document in wet ink, once in your old name and once in your new name, in front of two independent adult witnesses who watch you sign and then add their own names, addresses and signatures. From that moment your name change is legally effective.

Electronic signatures are not accepted — HM Passport Office and the DVLA require the original ink-signed document. Witnesses should be 18 or over and independent of you: not relatives, not partners, and not living at your address. Print and sign three to four copies so each ink-signed copy is an original.

See how to change my name in the UK for the signing sequence and the who to notify order afterwards.

It proves your new name for every UK organisation: passports, driving licences, HMRC, banks, the NHS, employers and schools. It cannot alter your birth certificate, your marital status, or records of past events, and it does not remove legal obligations attached to your old identity.

Debts, court orders, licences and notification requirements travel with you. The model wording includes an acknowledgement about telling the police where that duty applies. It also cannot give you a title such as Dr or Lord — misleading or offensive names may be refused; see name restrictions.

An unenrolled deed poll — the kind you print and sign at home — is fully valid and is what around 98–99% of people use. Enrolment at the High Court costs £53.05 (GOV.UK, checked 13 August 2026) and is only open from age 18. It adds a permanent Gazette record of your old name, new name and address.

GOV.UK now states that some organisations (such as some banks, mobile phone companies or energy providers) may only accept an enrolled deed poll. Ask that organisation before you pay the court. If they will take an unenrolled deed, enrolment is wasted money and a privacy cost.

The full comparison, including who should enrol, is at enrolled vs unenrolled deed polls.

Anywhere from nothing to about £300 for the same legal effect. DIY using the government wording is free. Our personalised PDF is £14.99. Posted competitors typically charge more for paper in the post. Solicitors often quote £150–£300. Enrolment is a separate £53.05 court fee on top of whatever document you enrol.

Passport and DVLA fees are not deed poll fees: an adult online passport is £102; a DVLA name change is free (GOV.UK passport fees and DVLA guidance, checked 13 August 2026). Full breakdown: how much a deed poll costs and the downloadable tables on open data.

Skip it if you are only taking the surname already printed on your marriage certificate — HMPO and the DVLA accept the certificate for that swap. Skip it if a child’s other parental-responsibility holder has not agreed: buy nothing, read the C100 route instead. Skip enrolment if you want privacy.

Trans applicants use the same deed poll as everyone else; the difference is privacy, not the form — see trans name change UK. If an organisation asked for a statutory declaration rather than a deed poll, start at statutory declarations.