Changing your name after a civil partnership

Can you change your name in a civil partnership?#

Yes, but nothing changes by itself. HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff says there is no legal basis in the UK for a name to change because someone has married or entered into a civil partnership. What you do is your choice: keep your own name, take your partner's surname, take part of it, or make a double-barrelled surname from both. For any of the last three, GOV.UK's deed poll guidance says you do not need a deed poll: you send a copy of your civil partnership certificate to the organisations that hold your records.

The certificate works because it shows the name you had before and your partner's name in one official document. HM Passport Office calls a civil partnership certificate "similar to a marriage certificate", and accepts either as evidence of a change of name provided it shows the link between the old name and the new.

Which names does the certificate cover?#

HM Passport Office's guidance sets the rule for each choice. Its examples include a couple called Linda Crickle and John Wood, whose names serve for most rows here:

So the certificate carries any surname built from the names printed on it. It cannot carry a merged or blended name, a new forename or your old surname moved into your middle names, because the guidance treats each of those as a change of name of its own. What could our surname be? shows every combination of your two names and what each one needs.

When do I need a deed poll?#

Only for a name the certificate does not show. A deed poll is one person's declaration, so each partner who changes to a name of that kind needs their own. With us it is £18.50, drafted and checked by a paralegal, posted the same working day and guaranteed to be accepted or your money back.

Some people choose a deed poll even where the certificate would do, for example to change a forename at the same time, or to avoid sending the certificate out. Do I need a deed poll after getting married? sets those cases out, and they apply to civil partners in the same way.

Who to tell, and what to send#

• HM Passport Office. Send the certificate when you apply for a passport in your new name; GOV.UK says this includes double-barrelled names. You can instead apply up to three months before the ceremony: the passport is post-dated, your old one is cancelled, and a "passports for newly weds and civil partners" form must be signed by the person who will conduct the ceremony (changing your name before the ceremony).
• DVLA. Changing your name on your licence is free, by post with form D1, and DVLA lists a civil partnership certificate among the original documents it accepts for a new surname. You can drive while you wait.
• HM Land Registry. If you own property, form AP1 with the certificate, and there is no fee (the property register).
• Everyone else, from the bank and your employer to HMRC: who to tell, and in what order.

If you take your partner's surname but keep using your own at work, the passport office can issue the passport in your new name with an observation that you are also known by your previous surname. You confirm it on the application or in a signed statement (using two names).

Opposite-sex civil partnerships#

The rules above do not depend on who your partner is. Civil partnership opened to opposite-sex couples on 2 December 2019 in England and Wales, on 13 January 2020 in Northern Ireland, and on 1 June 2021 in Scotland, when each new law came fully into force. HM Passport Office's guidance includes a husband who takes his partner's name on marriage or civil partnership: the certificate is enough if it shows the link between the names.

Does converting to a marriage change my name?#

No. Conversion changes the legal relationship, not anyone's name, and the rule that no name changes because of a marriage applies to the new marriage too. Where you can convert depends on the country:

• England and Wales: same-sex civil partners can convert at a register office, and GOV.UK says you get a marriage certificate dated when the civil partnership was formed. An opposite-sex civil partnership cannot be converted.
• Scotland: National Records of Scotland says any civil partnership registered in the UK can be changed into a marriage, by a marriage ceremony or, if it was registered in Scotland, at a registration office.
• Northern Ireland: GOV.UK says no civil partnership can be converted there.

Going back to your name after dissolution#

A civil partnership is ended by a final order, and in England and Wales GOV.UK says the process normally takes at least six months; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own. Once you have it, GOV.UK says you may be able to go back to your original name by showing your civil partnership certificate and final order, though some organisations will not change it back without a deed poll. DVLA accepts the end of civil partnership document, the conditional order or the final order, with your birth or adoption certificate.

The passport office wants more: your birth certificate, a certificate showing both names (or a final order that shows the link), a signed statement that you have gone back to your previous surname for all purposes, and a document showing you use it. Going back to a name that is not your birth name, or choosing a new one, is a change of name that needs its own evidence, usually a deed poll. A deed poll also works before the final order arrives. Changing your name after divorce or dissolution covers banks, children and copies of the papers.