The whole name change on one page: apply for a deed poll, sign it in front of two witnesses, then tell every organisation that holds your details.
Apply for an adult deed poll online (about five minutes, £22.50), sign it in front of two independent witnesses when it arrives, then send copies to HM Passport Office, the DVLA, your bank and everyone else who holds your name. Order before 3pm on a working day and it is prepared the same day.
A UK name change is three jobs: get a deed poll, sign it in front of witnesses, then show it to the organisations that hold your details. No court, and for most people no solicitor. Your name is legally changed on the day you sign. Everything after that is record keeping.
Here is the whole process in order.
The adult deed poll application takes about five minutes. You enter your current name, the name you want, your address and date of birth, then pay £22.50 by card. A confirmation email follows straight away.
If the change is for a child aged 15 or under, a parent or carer applies through the child deed poll application, also £22.50.
Applications received before 3pm, Monday to Friday, are prepared the same day and posted within two working days by First Class Post.
Before you type the new name, check it will be accepted. HM Passport Office and the other record holders all apply the same tests:
It comes in a plain envelope with nothing on the outside to say what it is. Inside you will find the deed poll printed on quality paper, any extra copies you ordered, signing instructions, a list of organisations to tell, and a covering letter you can adapt for each one.
Do not sign anything yet. A deed poll signed without the witnesses present is not valid, and you would need a replacement.
This is the step that turns a printed page into a legal document. You sign each copy in front of two witnesses, and they sign after you, on the same day. The rules on who can witness are strict:
Our deed polls are unenrolled, the kind gov.uk says anyone aged 16 or over can make for themselves, and the kind HM Passport Office, the DVLA, banks and employers accept every day. Enrolling at the Royal Courts of Justice puts the change on public record for a separate court fee. It is optional. UK Deed Poll is not a government agency.
If any organisation refuses your deed poll, you get your money back, subject to our terms. Over 900,000 deed polls have been issued in 13 years.
Your name changed the moment the deed poll was signed and witnessed. What is left is admin. Each organisation needs to see the deed poll and, in many cases, its own form as well. Start with the records that other organisations rely on as proof of who you are:
If you would rather not hunt down each form and write each letter, the Name Change Kit (£59.95) arrives with the forms and letters for HM Passport Office, the DVLA, HMRC, the electoral register, Council Tax, HM Land Registry and Companies House already completed in your new name. You check them, sign and post.
The DVLA does not charge to change the name on a driving licence, and it cannot be done online. You fill in form D1 (from a Post Office or the DVLA), send it with your current licence and your original deed poll to the DVLA in Swansea, and you can keep driving while the new licence is on its way. Photocopies are not accepted. The full walkthrough is in our driving licence name change guide.
Apply before 3pm and your deed poll is prepared today.
A deed poll covers any part of your name, so adding a middle name, dropping one, or swapping the order of your first and middle names works the same way as changing a surname. One point catches people out: the whole of the new name then has to be used everywhere. You cannot add a middle name for your passport and leave it off your bank account.
If you are taking your spouse's or civil partner's surname exactly as it is, you do not need a deed poll. Your marriage or civil partnership certificate is the proof, and you send a copy to each record holder.
A deed poll is needed when the change is anything other than a straight swap: joining both surnames, blending them into a new one, or moving your maiden name to become a middle name. The detail is in changing your name after marriage.
The name on your passport has to match the name you book travel under, so most people update the passport first. You apply for a new passport in the new name and send your signed deed poll with your current passport. HM Passport Office issues a new passport with a new number, so the old one stops being valid. At the time of writing the adult fee is £102 online or £115.50 by paper form. Do not book travel until the new passport is in your hand. More in our passport name change guide.
To go back to the surname you had before you married, many organisations accept your marriage certificate together with the final order (the document that ends a marriage in England and Wales, known as the decree absolute before April 2022). Some will not change a name back without a deed poll. A deed poll is also the only route if you want a name that is neither your married name nor your birth name, or if you want to change your name while the divorce is still going through. The final order cannot arrive sooner than 20 weeks plus six weeks and a day after the divorce application, so a deed poll can move things forward by months. Both routes are set out in changing your name after divorce.
Changing your surname is the most common deed poll. The same document works whether you are taking a step parent's name, going back to a family name, or choosing something new. Three things to know before you apply:
If you are ready to change your surname, the adult deed poll application takes about five minutes.
From 16 you apply for your own adult deed poll and sign it yourself. For a child aged 15 or under, a parent or carer applies, and everyone who holds parental responsibility should agree to the change. Where agreement is not possible, a court order is needed before the name can change. Our child deed poll guide covers consent and the application step by step, and the deed poll guide explains the document itself.
The deed poll part is fast: apply before 3pm on a working day and it is prepared the same day and posted within two working days. Signing takes a few minutes once your witnesses are in the room. The long part is the record updates. Banks, councils and employers generally act on your letter as soon as it arrives. The passport and driving licence are the ones to plan around, because each means posting a document away and waiting for a new one to come back. Send those first and let the rest run alongside.
No. There is no general deadline and no central register that tells organisations for you, so you can work through the list at your own pace. Two cautions. The DVLA does expect your licence to be updated, so do not leave that one. And carrying ID in two names for months causes friction, for example when a bank asks to see a passport that no longer matches the account. Change the identity documents first and move through everything else within a few weeks.
Passport first, because it is the identity document most other organisations ask to see. Driving licence next, for the same reason. Then HMRC and your employer, so payslips and tax records match. Then banks and building societies, which often want updated photo ID. Everything else, from the electoral register to your phone contract, can follow in any order.
Yes. Your name changed on the day the deed poll was signed and witnessed, not on the day the last organisation caught up. You can introduce yourself, sign letters and open new accounts in the new name straight away. The only limits are practical: where one document has to match another, such as a plane ticket matching a passport, use whichever name is on the document until it has been replaced.
Organisations that have already updated their records keep them, so nothing you have done is undone. For the ones still to do, order a replacement copy from us. Like the original, it needs to be signed in front of two witnesses before you use it, so keep your witnesses' details. Most people avoid the problem by ordering extra copies at the start and keeping one at home in the envelope it came in.
Adult deed poll £22.50. Apply in five minutes, prepared today before 3pm.
Online deed poll applications for adults and children across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Questions? support@ukdeedpoll.org