How to Legally Change Your Name by Deed Poll

A witness must be:

• - over the age of 18
• - not a close relative or someone you live with
• - someone who knows who you are
• - be of sound mind to make the declaration
• - physically present when you sign the Deed
• - A British resident

If you're in Jersey, you will need to have your Deed witnessed by a solicitor.

Some companies may supply digital Deed Polls, but we don't feel these hold any real value. When you're presenting your Deed to a company or government department, they will expect to see an official looking document which has been professionally drafted and bound. Having a hard copy posted out to you for you to sign ensures that we can guarantee your Deed will be accepted, provided you follow the guidance notes we provide on having it witnessed.

Unfortunatley, no. If you're sending your Deed Poll to make a change of details to your ID or an account with a company, you'll always need to provide an original with a "wet signature". Photocopies won't be accepted, so we recommend getting a few copies of your Deed. This will help safeguard against your only cpoy getting lost or damaged in the post, and allow you to update things quicker by sending out several requests at once.

Most people choose to have extra copies of their Deed Poll because:

• - It speeds up your name change - each name change request will likely need a hard copy, so you could be waiting months to receive your only copy back each time!
• - It protects from loss or damage – as hard as you try, sometimes things happen. Your only copy could get lost in the post, or damaged accidentally.
• - It allows you to keep copies where you need them – maybe you’ll decide to keep one at home in a safe place, one at work, or maybe one in a second home. It’s always handy having those important documents to hand when you need them.

If you purchase additional copies within 60 days of your original order, there is no additional fees to be paid on top of the copy fees. You only pay what you would have originally paid when requesting copies on your original request! If you request copies after 60 days, there is an additional £10 admin fee.

Titles, officially known as "honorifics", are not a legal part of your name. If you are a Miss or Mrs, but would prefer to be known as "Ms", you do not need any documentation to make this change. You can simply choose your title by usage.

Yes, Deed Poll is sometimes misspelled as depol or depole, but they are the same document. It's the official name for a legal change of name document in the UK.

If you would like to change your name to more accurately reflect your gender, you can do so with a Deed Poll. Bear in mind however, that your official ID will still display your legally recognised gender until you obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate which you can find out more about here. To read more about Non-Binary and Transgender name changes, read more here.

In the UK, the government currently only recognises two genders. You are still able to change your name as you choose, and can adopt a gender-neutral title such as "Mx." if you wish. More companies are starting to recognise additional genders and making accommodations in their forms and paperwork processes.

Although there are no offical laws in the UK on the use of names, there are regulations enforced by individual government departments. For example, HM Passport Office have their own guidelines on the acceptance of names and if your application doesn't meet these, it will be rejected. Things to generally avoid when changing your name could include:

• A registered trademark such as Coca Cola
• Anything deemed offensive
• A name which is unpronounceable
• Contains numbers or special characters
• Includes anything which could be deemed misleading such as Lord, Duke, Prince
• Is extremely long
• Only includes a single name
• Gives the impression you have honours such as MBE, OBE

An Apostille is a government-issued verification applied to documents that are going to be used outside of the UK. If you have your UK-issued Deed Poll and are using it overseas for official purposes, such as applying for a Passport or Citizenship, you will likely need this service; if you're only going to be using your document within the UK, this won't be necessary.

Bear in mind that an Apostille is only recognised as full legalisation in other Hague Member states, including the USA, Australia and most of Europe. If you're using it outside the Hague zone, additional steps will be required. To find out more about this, see our Apostille page.

Yes, but you will likely need to complete several other stages before it will be recognised outside of the UK. If for example you're getting married overseas and need to provide your personal documents, the Deed Poll will need to be legally recognised by the authorities in the country.

To make this possible, you will need to legalise, also known as "attest" your Deed. The process itself will differ, depedent on where you're getting married, and you may also require a translation. For more information, get in touch with our friendly team of specialists who can advise on legalising and translating your Deed for use in over 150 countries.

Of course. If you're presenting the document overseas and need it to be translated from English to another language, we can help. When you've added the Deed Poll to your basket, simply add your preferred service to your order too from the translation section. We will then produce your Deed for you and then have a translation made.

Bear in mind that even if you request several additional copies of your Deed, each translation is charged per document, therefore you will only receive one translated copy.

No, not unless you tell them. Unless you Enroll your Deed Poll, the document remains private and not a public document. You will need to notify any companies or organisations of your name change yourself, usually by sending a cover letter along with an original copy of your Deed.

Some companies may supply digital Deed Polls, but we don't feel these hold any real value. When you're presenting your Deed to a company or government department, they will expect to see an official looking document which has been professionally drafted and bound. Having a hard copy posted out to you for you to sign ensures that we can guarantee your Deed will be accepted, provided you follow the guidance notes we provide on having it witnessed.

No, once you receive your Deed it's yours to sign and use. We don't need it to be sent back to us. The only time we will need it returned to our offices is if you've asked us to legalise it for use overseas.