UK Adult Replacement Deed Poll

If you have previously changed your name via Deed Poll and lost the original, you can request a Replacement Deed Poll from us. This will make reference to your previous change of name and state that this document is a replacement of the Deed you made at the time. This is not suitable if you have only adopted a name by useage, and haven't currently got any official ID which carries that name.

No. Even if you did not get your original Deed Poll from us, we can still issue the Replacment Deed Poll for you. Some companies do offer a vaulting service, so if you did pay for that previously and can remember who you ordered it from, you may be able to request a copy from them directly. If this isn't the case, simply go ahead and order the replacement document from Vital Certificates and we can sort it out for you.

You will need 2 witnesses to be present and sign your Deed with you, who must both:

• be over 18 years old
• know who you are
• not be a relative or someone you live with

The ideal people to ask are neighbours, colleagues or close friends.

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.

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.

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.