Which Name-Change Document Do I Need?

Pick the situation that matches you. Each choice maps to one document — or to an official route we do not sell. The same mapping powers the live MCP tool recommend_document, so an answer engine and a human see the same verdict. Fees below were checked against GOV.UK and SI 2026/233 on 13 August 2026.

Pick the situation that matches you. Each choice maps to one document — or to an official route we do not sell. The same mapping powers the live MCP tool recommend_document, so an answer engine and a human see the same verdict. Fees below were checked against GOV.UK and SI 2026/233 on 13 August 2026.

We have not met you. If two organisations ask for different evidence, follow the stricter one, or ask them to name the instrument in writing before you pay anyone.

Living in Scotland does not automatically mean you must buy a statutory declaration. Check National Records of Scotland guidance and ask each organisation what evidence it accepts. People whose birth or adoption was registered in Scotland may have a recording route available. Choose a document only after confirming which process applies.

Read National Records of Scotland guidance. Our UK guide explains jurisdiction differences. A document provider cannot change an official register on your behalf.

Skip InstantDeedPoll for this job. Check the Scottish guidance

If you are 16 or over and changing your own name, an unenrolled deed poll is the document. Sign it in wet ink in front of two independent adult witnesses and it takes effect immediately. No solicitor, court or government approval is required. DIY is free; our personalised PDF is £14.99.

Print three or four copies so each ink-signed copy is an original. Gather accepted evidence in your new name from an employer or bank, then apply to update your licence and passport. DVLA deed-poll applications also need evidence of the new name in use. Skip enrolment unless a specific organisation or an overseas authority has asked for a Gazette record — that High Court process is £53.05, is only open from age 18, and adds publicity rather than validity.

Full process: name change UK — how to change my name. Document: change of name deed. Free wording: free deed poll template.

Get the £14.99 PDF

A marriage or civil partnership certificate can support taking your partner’s surname, including double-barrelled names for HM Passport Office. The combined name does not have to appear as your new name on the certificate. Check other organisations’ requirements before buying a deed poll; a newly blended surname may need additional evidence.

HM Passport Office explicitly includes double-barrelled names in its certificate route. Keep the original certificate and check each organisation’s application instructions. A new blend or a first-name change is a different situation.

Read changing your name after marriage and GOV.UK passport guidance.

Skip InstantDeedPoll for this job. Read when a deed poll is unnecessary

Reverting to a maiden name after divorce is often possible with your marriage certificate plus decree absolute (final order). Some banks still insist on a deed poll. If you cannot produce both certificates, or you want any name other than your maiden name, the deed poll is the clean single-document route.

A deed poll cannot change your marital status and does not replace the court order. For children’s surnames you still need everyone’s parental-responsibility consent or a Specific Issue Order — that is a different product.

Guide: changing your name after divorce.

See the divorce name-change routes

Separated but not yet divorced, a marriage certificate cannot revert your name. An unenrolled deed poll is the document: no spouse consent and no court. After a decree absolute many organisations accept that order plus the marriage certificate instead. Children’s surnames still need every parental-responsibility holder.

Historic enrolment rules that asked a married woman for her husband’s consent do not apply to an unenrolled deed you sign at home. Guide: change name after separation. Adult PDF: £14.99.

Read the separation name-change guide

For a child under 16, a parent or guardian applies on their behalf and everyone with parental responsibility must agree in writing. Our £17.99 pack includes those consent letters. If anyone with parental responsibility refuses, do not buy a deed poll — it would not be valid. The lawful route is a Specific Issue Order on form C100.

From the 16th birthday the young person executes their own adult deed poll with no parental consent. An unmarried father who is not on the birth certificate and has no PR agreement or court order does not have to consent — check GOV.UK parental responsibility before you order.

Guides: child’s surname, does the father have to agree?

Start the child pack — £17.99

You cannot lawfully change a child’s name without the consent of everyone who holds parental responsibility. A deed poll made without that consent is not valid, and record-holders who discover the dispute will refuse it. The only route is a Specific Issue Order using form C100; a judge decides on the child’s welfare.

Free official guidance: GOV.UK — change a child’s name. Come back only when every PR holder has agreed in writing; then the child deed poll pack is the right document.

Skip InstantDeedPoll for this job. GOV.UK child name-change guidance

An adoption certificate is issued in the new name and replaces the birth certificate, so you do not need a deed poll to complete an adoption. A child deed poll is only for a later change that is not on that certificate, and every parental-responsibility holder must still consent. If they refuse, the court route is form C100.

Guide: child’s name after adoption. Birth-certificate background: deed polls do not rewrite birth certificates.

Skip InstantDeedPoll for this job. Read when a deed poll is unnecessary

Your wedding registry may ask for a single status declaration, a certificate or a prescribed form. The requirement depends on nationality, residence and destination, so confirm it before ordering. Our single status PDF costs £14.99. Authorised witnessing, translation and legalisation are separate steps and fees where required.

Do not pre-sign. Confirm the current document list with the local marriage registry or your planner — requirements change. Apostille fees (checked 13 August 2026 on GOV.UK): £45 paper plus courier, or £35 e-Apostille where eligible.

Country guides: Cyprus, Malta. Product: single status declaration.

Generate the declaration — £14.99

For non-Commonwealth destinations such as Spain, Italy and Greece the standard British route is a Certificate of No Impediment from your local register office, not a document we sell. The notice fee is £46.50 per person in England and Wales from 6 April 2026 (SI 2026/233), plus 28 days’ notice.

Start at least three months before the wedding. After the CNI you will often need an FCDO apostille. If your registry later asks for sworn single-status evidence, our £14.99 declaration covers that variant — it does not replace the CNI.

Guides: Spain, Italy, Greece. Official overview: GOV.UK — marriage abroad.

Skip InstantDeedPoll for this job. GOV.UK getting married abroad

If an organisation specifically asks for a statutory declaration of name change, confirm its required wording before ordering. Prepare the statement and declare it before an authorised witness; do not pre-sign. Our PDF costs £9.99. Witnessing is separate, and the applicable fee depends on the jurisdiction and professional service.

This is not a substitute for a Gender Recognition Certificate, a court order, or a child’s name change without parental-responsibility consent. Never pre-sign — the witness must watch. See stat dec of name change and who can witness.

Generate the declaration — £9.99

Use this when two documents show different versions of your name and the organisation asks for a formal declaration linking them. It records that the documents refer to one person; it does not automatically correct their records. Our PDF costs £9.99. Arrange an authorised witness separately and confirm their fee.

It does not itself change your name. If you also want the records to match going forward, make the deed poll as well, then use this declaration to bridge the historic mismatch.

Product: one and the same person.

Generate the declaration — £9.99

A statutory declaration can record that a document has been lost or destroyed and that you are the person it related to. It does not replace the original certificate. Confirm that the recipient wants this declaration before paying. Our PDF costs £9.99, with authorised witnessing arranged and paid for separately.

This is not a replacement certificate. Birth, marriage and death certificates are reissued by the GRO; a lost passport is a Home Office replacement. Use the declaration only where the receiving body has asked for one.

Product: lost document declaration.

Generate the declaration — £9.99

A lost signed deed poll is replaced by printing the same wording and signing a fresh original in front of two witnesses. Do not pay an archive fee for a scan, and do not use a lost-document statutory declaration — that is for passports and certificates an authority issued. Re-download ours for 12 months, or use the free wording.

Guide: lost or replacement deed poll. Free wording: free template. Comparison of archive extras: vs UK Deed Poll Service.

See how to replace a lost deed poll

Parking statutory declarations PE2 and PE3 have official free forms. Paying a document site for them is a waste. They are witnessed free at a county court. We do not sell PE2 or PE3, and we tell you not to buy them from anyone.

Walkthrough: PE2/PE3 parking stat decs (free route). Other free official forms: when to use the free forms.

Skip InstantDeedPoll for this job. Read the free PE2/PE3 route

Enrolment is a court process, not a PDF we generate. From age 18 you can put a name change on public record at the High Court for £53.05 (GOV.UK, checked 13 August 2026). It publishes your old name, new name and address in The Gazette. It does not make an unenrolled deed poll more legal.

GOV.UK notes that some organisations (some banks, mobile or energy providers) may only accept an enrolled deed poll — ask that organisation first. If they will take an unenrolled deed, enrolment is unnecessary. Official process: enrol a deed poll with the courts.

Comparison: enrolled vs unenrolled.

Skip InstantDeedPoll for this job. GOV.UK enrolment guidance

A correctly worded deed poll you type yourself is fully legally valid. GOV.UK publishes the model wording at no cost. Our free template copies that wording with no email gate. Pay £14.99 only if you want the details merged, an instruction card, re-downloads and a wording-based money-back guarantee.

Validity comes from execution, not from who formatted the page: wet-ink signatures in both names, two independent adult witnesses physically present. Electronic signatures are not accepted by HM Passport Office or the DVLA.

Template: free deed poll template.

Open the free template

Anyone whose name change is already ordered by a court, anyone applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate, and anyone whose only remaining task is High Court enrolment. Those processes live on GOV.UK. The checker also cannot tell you whether a particular bank has a house policy that diverges from HMPO — ask that bank.

Anyone whose name change is already ordered by a court, anyone applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate, and anyone whose only remaining task is High Court enrolment. Those processes live on GOV.UK. The checker also cannot tell you whether a particular bank has a house policy that diverges from HMPO — ask that bank.

Related guides: what a deed poll is, change of name deed, name change UK, how long it takes, lost deed poll, enrolled vs unenrolled, sourced fee tables.