Changing your name after marriage

Your name does not change by itself when you marry

No law in the UK gives you a new surname on your wedding day. HM Passport Office says so in its own guidance: there is no legal basis for a name to change because someone has married or entered a civil partnership. You decide whether to change your name, what to change it to, and when.

What the wedding gives you is a certificate. For the two most common choices, that certificate is all the proof you will ever need. For every other choice you will need a deed poll as well.

Which document you need depends on the name you choose

Every organisation you contact asks the same question: does this piece of paper connect the old name to the new one? A marriage certificate shows two people and two surnames, so it can only prove a name built from those two surnames.

You are taking your spouse's surname

Your marriage or civil partnership certificate shows your name before the wedding and your spouse's surname, so it proves the link on its own. No deed poll is needed. Gov.uk says the same: you do not need a deed poll to take your spouse's or civil partner's surname.

If this is you, the paperwork is the only job left. The Name Change Kit gives you the completed forms and letters for HM Passport Office, DVLA, HMRC, the electoral register, Council Tax, HM Land Registry and Companies House, ready to sign and send with your certificate.

You want a double-barrelled surname

Smith marries Jones and becomes Smith-Jones, or Jones-Smith, or Smith Jones with a space. All of these work on the certificate alone. HM Passport Office accepts a marriage or civil partnership certificate as evidence of a double-barrelled surname, with or without a hyphen, and that holds when both of you take the joined name.

You want to keep your maiden name as a middle name

This is where the certificate stops working. If Sarah Smith marries Tom Jones and wants to be Sarah Smith Jones, with Smith as a middle name, she has changed her forenames, not only her surname. A marriage certificate says nothing about forenames, and HM Passport Office states it cannot accept one as evidence for this change. You need a deed poll.

You want to mesh your surnames or choose a new one

Some couples blend their surnames into one new word. HM Passport Office's guidance uses the example of Linda Crickle and John Wood becoming Cricklewood. That is a new word rather than two surnames side by side, so it is not double-barrelled and the certificate cannot prove it. The same goes for a surname that has nothing to do with either family. A deed poll is the only route, and each of you needs your own.

If you are in this group, the adult deed poll application takes about five minutes and costs £22.50. Applications received before 3pm Monday to Friday are prepared the same day and posted within two working days by First Class Post.

You will take your spouse's name but keep your maiden name at work

You can. Many people carry their married name on their passport, driving licence and bank accounts and keep their maiden name at work. Follow the process above for the official name. When you apply for the passport, the form asks whether you have used any other name; list your maiden name there.

A husband taking his wife's name, and same sex couples

The rules do not care who is taking whose name. A husband who takes his wife's surname sends the same marriage certificate a wife would send, and HM Passport Office says it needs nothing else as long as the certificate shows the link between the old and new names.

Same sex married couples and civil partners follow exactly the same rules. Same sex marriage has been lawful in England and Wales since March 2014, in Scotland since December 2014 and in Northern Ireland since January 2020, and a certificate from any of them is treated like any other marriage certificate. If you hold a second nationality, that country may have its own naming law, so check with its embassy before you change the name on its documents.

Married abroad? Check two things on the certificate

A foreign marriage certificate can prove a name change in the UK, but it has to pass the same test as a British one.

• Is it in English? If not, HM Passport Office and HM Land Registry both ask for a verified translation: one that a professional translator or agency has translated, signed, stamped and dated as a true copy of the original.
• Does it show your new surname? Many countries record only the two names at the time of marriage, with no mention of a married name. If the certificate does not show the name you now want to use, the link is missing.

If it fails either test, a deed poll fixes it in one step. A deed poll does not depend on where or how you married. It records that you have given up one name and taken another.

Changing the name on your passport after marriage

Your passport is usually the first thing to update, because it becomes the photo ID you show everyone else. You apply for a fresh passport under the new name and send your marriage certificate, or your deed poll if your new name needed one. You get a new passport with full ten year validity, not a corrected copy. The adult fee on gov.uk today is £102 online. Our passport name change guide walks through the application. Whether an old visa survives is the issuing country's call, so ask its embassy before you rely on one.

Do you have to change your passport?

No. But the name on your passport must match the name on your flight and hotel bookings, so if you book as Mrs Jones and travel as Ms Smith, you can be refused boarding. Either change the passport before you book, or book in your old name until you have.

Travelling straight after the wedding

The easiest answer is to travel in your old name, book in your old name, and change everything when you are back. If you would rather fly out already in your new name, you have two options.

• Sign a deed poll before the wedding. If your new name needs a deed poll anyway, order it early, sign it in front of your two witnesses, and apply for the passport straight away.
• Apply for a newlywed passport. You can apply up to three months before the ceremony in the name you will use afterwards. You send a "passports for newly weds and civil partners" form, signed by the minister or registrar who will marry you. The new passport is post-dated to the wedding, so it is no use before the ceremony, and your old passport is cancelled when the new one is issued. Some countries will not put a visa in a post-dated passport, so check with your destination first.

Who to tell, and in what order

The certificate or deed poll proves the change. It does not tell anyone. Every organisation that holds your name has to be told separately, and the order matters, because the early ones become the ID you show the later ones.

• Photo ID first: HM Passport Office, then DVLA for your driving licence, which is free using form D1 and your original certificate or deed poll. See our driving licence guide.
• Then government: HMRC (online or in the HMRC app), the electoral register through your local council, Council Tax, HM Land Registry if you own property (form AP1, no fee), and Companies House if you are a director.
• Then money: current accounts, savings, credit cards, mortgage, lenders, pensions and insurers. Banks usually want to see the new photo ID, which is why they come third.
• Then work and daily life: your employer and payroll, GP and dentist, utilities, phone and broadband, car insurance and the V5C log book, subscriptions, and your will.

Each one wants a different form and a different letter. The Name Change Kit does that part for you.

The Name Change Kit

The Kit costs £59.95 and contains the completed forms and letters for HM Passport Office, DVLA, HMRC, the electoral register, Council Tax, HM Land Registry and Companies House, filled in with your details. You sign, attach your marriage certificate or deed poll, and post. It is built for people who already have their proof, which after a wedding is most people.

If your new name needs a deed poll, order the adult deed poll first and the Kit alongside it. We issue unenrolled deed polls, signed in front of two independent witnesses aged 18 or over who live in the UK. Enrolling at the Royal Courts of Justice is optional and separate, and a deed poll does not change your birth certificate. If any organisation refuses a deed poll we issue, we refund it, subject to our terms. UK Deed Poll has issued over 900,000 deed polls in 13 years. UK Deed Poll is not a government agency.

Common questions

Can I double-barrel my surname without a deed poll?

Yes, if the new surname is your two existing surnames joined together, with or without a hyphen, in either order. Your marriage or civil partnership certificate is accepted as proof. If you drop a surname, change the spelling, or blend the two into a single new word, it is no longer double-barrelled in the eyes of HM Passport Office and you need a deed poll.

Does my husband need a deed poll to take my name?

No. A husband taking his wife's surname is treated exactly like a wife taking her husband's. The marriage certificate shows both names and proves the link, and that is all HM Passport Office, DVLA and the banks need. He would only need a deed poll for a meshed or entirely new surname, the same as anyone else.

I have lost my marriage certificate. What now?

Two routes. If you married in England or Wales, order a certified copy from the General Register Office: it costs £12.50 and is sent four days after you apply, or £38.50 for next working day dispatch. Or sign a deed poll, which proves the name change on its own and does not rely on the certificate at all. If you need the proof this week, the deed poll is usually faster.

Do I have to change my name at all?

No. Keeping your own name after marriage needs no paperwork. If all you want is a new title, say Ms to Mrs, just start using it; titles do not appear on a passport and a deed poll cannot change them anyway. The one rule is consistency: whatever name you use, use it on every booking and every account.

How long after the wedding can I change my name?

There is no deadline. Your marriage certificate proves the link whether you use it a week after the wedding or ten years later. Some people wait for their passport renewal so they only pay once.