Deed Polls Online
Change your name in the UK: the answers, and the deed poll to do it.
The handbook answers every question from GOV.UK and each organisation's own guidance, dated and sourced. The service drafts your deed poll the same working day, guaranteed to be accepted. Use either, or both.
Find the answer
Ask anything about changing your name
Witnesses, passports, a child's surname, Scotland, what it costs. The first paragraph of every page is the answer.
- 135answers and guides
- 63organisations
- 60glossary terms
- every fact sourced and dated
Get a deed poll
Drafted by a paralegal, posted today
Apply in about five minutes. Your deed poll is checked by a person, printed on certificate paper and dispatched the same working day.
£18.50one payment, no subscription
- Guaranteed to be accepted, or your money back
- Signing guide, who-to-tell guide and cover letter template included
- Certified copies from £6, so the original stays at home
Adult
Child
ReplacementAn unenrolled deed poll, correctly signed and witnessed, is accepted by
UK Government
HM Passport Office
DVLA
HM Revenue and Customs
Banks and building societies
HM Land Registry
Schools and universities
Insurers
The service
A deed poll drafted by a paralegal, for £18.50
Three deed polls, one price. Each is checked by a person before it is printed, posted the same working day by Royal Mail, and signed by you at home in front of two witnesses. No solicitor is needed.
Everything about the service-
For yourself
Adult deed poll
For anyone aged 16 or over changing their own name. Signed by you in front of two witnesses; your legal name from that moment.
£18.50
Apply online What is included -
For a child
Child deed poll
For a child under 16, applied for by a parent, with everyone who holds parental responsibility agreeing. Comes with a parental cover letter.
£18.50
Apply online What is included -
Lost or damaged
Replacement deed poll
A new deed poll recording a change of name you have already made, whoever drafted the original and however long ago.
£18.50
Apply online What is included
Apply onlineYour old name, your new name and where to post it. About five minutes, by card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Klarna.
A paralegal drafts and checks itThe wording UK organisations recognise, the names checked letter by letter, printed on certificate paper.
Posted the same working dayBy Royal Mail, in the service you chose, with a signing guide, a who-to-tell guide and a cover letter template.
Sign it in front of two witnessesYour name changes on the day you sign. Nothing is sent back and nothing is filed anywhere: the signed deed is the evidence.
The handbook
The whole job, in six guides
Read these in order and you will know what a deed poll is, whether you need one, what the law says, how to sign it and how long the rest takes.
Every answer, by topic
GUIDE 1How to change your name in the UKFrom deciding to telling the last organisation, every step in order.Read the guide 
GUIDE 2What is a deed poll?What the document says, what makes it binding, and what it cannot do.Read the guide 
GUIDE 3Unenrolled deed pollsWhat they are, how they differ from enrolled ones, the £53.05 court fee, and what becomes public.Read the guide 
GUIDE 4Every legal way to change your nameMarriage certificates, decrees, deed polls and statutory declarations, and when each one is enough.Read the guide 
GUIDE 5The law on changing your nameWhy you may change it, the few limits, and the Act that makes a deed a deed.Read the guide 
GUIDE 6How long it all takesFrom ordering a deed poll to a passport in the new name, with the dates that matter.Read the guide
Free tools
Work out your own answer
Answer a few questions and each tool gives the answer for your situation, using the same rules, fees and dates as the handbook. They are free, with nothing to sign up for.
Every free tool
Can I change my name by deed poll?Answer two or three questions and see whether you can change your name by deed poll, whatever your age, nationality, home or record, or a child's.
Will my new name be accepted?Type the name you would like and check it against GOV.UK's rules, HM Passport Office's passport rules and what we will draft, one rule at a time.
How much will my name change cost?Add up what your name change will cost: the deed poll or certificate, a new passport, your driving licence, copies and delivery, item by item.
When will my new passport arrive?See when a passport in your new name should arrive, step by step from your deed poll, and whether it will be in time for a trip, from GOV.UK's timings.
What do I send to DVLA?Answer a few questions and get the exact list for your envelope to DVLA: the form, your licence, the original evidence and anything else, with the cost and address.
What could our married surname be?Type both surnames and see every option, double-barrelled, joined or blended, with what each needs: your marriage certificate or a deed poll each.
Answers
The questions people ask most
Short, sourced answers to what people search for and write to us about, from what it costs to what to do when a deed poll is refused.
Every answer
How much does it cost to change your name in the UK? 
Is there an official UK deed poll office? 
Can I get a deed poll for free? 
Is someone charging me every month for a deed poll? 
Can I change my name to anything I like? 
Who can witness a deed poll? 
Can I change the name on my birth certificate? - How long does a passport in a new name take?
Can I change my child's surname without the other parent's consent? - Do I need a deed poll after getting married?
Going back to your maiden name after divorce 
Adding, removing or moving a middle name - Is an unenrolled deed poll legally binding?
What to do if an organisation refuses your deed poll 
How many certified copies of my deed poll do I need? 
When can I start using my new name?
New in the handbook
Is a change of name deed the same as a deed poll?Yes. A change of name deed, a deed of change of name and a deed poll are one document. Its legal status, what it looks like, cost, registration and child versions.
What is my legal name?Your legal name is the one you use for all official purposes, proven by documents. England and Wales keep no register of names. Marriage, divorce, middle names.
Name change myths, and the factsFourteen common beliefs about changing your name in the UK that are wrong, from the Premium passport service to deed poll registers, each with its official source.
Do I have to change my name when I get married?No. Marriage does not change your name in the UK: keep it, take your spouse's, double-barrel or use both, with no deadline. Passports, Mrs or Ms, and children.
Can I keep my maiden name as a middle name?Yes, by deed poll. HM Passport Office treats a maiden name kept as a middle name as a new forename, which a marriage certificate cannot evidence on its own.
Can I change my child's first name?Yes. Within 12 months of registration the birth register can record it; after that it takes a child deed poll agreed by everyone with parental responsibility.
Can my ex change our child's surname?Not without your consent if you hold parental responsibility. What the passport office and schools do when you object, prohibited steps orders, and what to do next.
What can I name my baby? First names and surnames at registrationAlmost any name, and any surname your baby is to be known by. Who registers and chooses it, the 42-day deadline (21 in Scotland), and what a passport cannot show.
Situations
What is different in your situation
The rules change with the circumstances: a child, a marriage, a divorce, a border. Each situation has its own guide, with the answers and organisations that matter most to it.
Every situation
Changing a child's nameHow a child's name is changed in England and Wales: who has parental responsibility, why everyone must agree, what the court weighs, and the rules at 16 and 17.
Changing your name after divorce, dissolution or separationGoing back to a former name after divorce: the papers that usually do it, what to do if an organisation refuses, and when a deed poll is simpler.
Changing your name after marriage or civil partnershipTaking a spouse's surname needs no deed poll: the certificate is the evidence. When a deed poll is needed, and what the passport office and Land Registry want.
Changing your name if you are not a British citizenA deed poll works in the UK whatever your nationality, but the Home Office expects your passport and eVisa to match. What UKVI requires.
Changing your name in Northern IrelandIn Northern Ireland you can change your name by deed poll or, if born or adopted there, record it with GRONI for £35. What each does and who accepts what.
Changing your name in ScotlandChanging your name in Scotland: a deed poll or statutory declaration as evidence, and the optional £40 record National Records of Scotland adds to your birth entry.
Changing your name in WalesWales and England share one law: a deed poll signed in front of witnesses changes your name. GOV.UK's guidance is published in Welsh, and the records are the same.
Changing your name to stay safeAn unenrolled deed poll is published nowhere. What does publish a new name, the order to update records quietly, your children, and where to get support.
Changing your name when you transitionA deed poll changes your name whatever your gender; a Gender Recognition Certificate is separate and optional. What each organisation asks for.
Organisations
Changing your name with each organisation
What each one asks for, whether it wants the original or a certified copy, and how to reach it, taken from the organisation's own published guidance.
Organisations A to Z- Changing your name with HM Passport Office
- Changing your name with DVLA: your driving licence
- Changing your name with your bank or building society
Changing your name with HMRC: tax, National Insurance and Child Benefit 
Changing your name with your employer: payroll and right to work 
Changing your name with the NHS and your GP 
Changing your name for council tax 
Changing your name on the electoral register 
Changing your name with DWP: Universal Credit and other benefits 
Changing your name with Child Benefit 
Changing your name on the property register: HM Land Registry 
Changing your name and DBS checks
Why people order from us
Accepted, or your money back
A deed poll only has value if it is accepted. Ours are drafted in the wording HM Passport Office, DVLA and the banks recognise, and if one is ever refused we take it up with the organisation, then refund you in full if it is still refused.
How the guarantee works
One payment. No subscription, ever.
What you get for £18.50
Five things every deed poll comes with
- Sealed as the originalCertificate paper, the wording organisations recognise, space for two witnesses.
- Drafted by a paralegalEvery deed is read by a person before it is printed.
- No solicitor neededSigned at home in front of two adult witnesses you know.
Posted the same working dayBy Royal Mail, in the service you choose, from £2.99.- The guides, includedHow to sign and witness it, who to tell, and a cover letter template.
How this handbook is made
Trust is shown, not claimed
This is legal information that changes people's documents, so every page has to earn it.
Our editorial standards- Sourced
Every fact links to its primary source: GOV.UK, HM Passport Office, DVLA, National Records of Scotland, nidirect, legislation, or the organisation's own help page.
- Dated
Each page shows when it was last checked against its sources and when its content last changed. Nothing is re-dated for show.
- Corrected
When a source changes, the page changes, and the correction is logged in the open.
- Independent
We prepare unenrolled deed polls. We are not part of government, and where you do not need a deed poll, the page says so.
