What the certificate covers#
GOV.UK's deed poll guidance says you do not need a deed poll to take your spouse's or civil partner's surname, and that you send a copy of your marriage or civil partnership certificate to record-holders instead. The certificate shows the names you both married under, so an organisation can see the old name and the new one in the same document. HM Passport Office accepts it when you apply for a passport in the new name, and GOV.UK says this includes double-barrelled names.
So a wife taking her husband's surname, a husband taking his wife's, or either civil partner taking the other's, needs no deed poll at all. Nor does anyone who keeps their own name.
Where a deed poll comes in#
The certificate can only evidence a name it shows. GOV.UK's route for any other change is a deed poll, and there are four common cases:
- A blended surname, made from parts of both names. It is on neither side of the certificate, so each of you needs a deed poll.
- A new surname for you both, chosen rather than inherited. Again, a deed poll each.
- A forename change at the same time. The certificate records your forenames as they were; a new forename is a deed poll.
- An organisation that will not accept the certificate for a double-barrelled name. The passport office does, but if a bank or another record-holder wants a document showing the exact form, a deed poll settles it.
If you would rather have one anyway#
A deed poll can record a surname taken on marriage just as it records any other change, and some people prefer it: because it is a single document in the new name, because they do not want to send the marriage certificate to every organisation, or because the certificate was issued abroad and needs a translation. It is a choice, not a requirement, and the certificate route is free. Changing your name after marriage covers the passport, the property register and the bank.
