Can I change my name if I'm not divorced yet?#
Yes. You can change your name at any time, whether you are married, separated, part way through a divorce or divorced, and you do not need your husband's, wife's or civil partner's agreement. GOV.UK says anyone aged 16 or over can make a deed poll and start using the new name, and its wording asks for no reason. The divorce is a separate legal process with its own timetable: GOV.UK says it normally takes at least seven months, and you need not wait for any part of it.
What the divorce changes is the paperwork you can use. Before it is final, you have two routes: your existing certificates, which take you back to your birth surname with some organisations, or a deed poll, which every organisation accepts and which works for any name.
Going back to your maiden or birth name before the divorce#
The passport. GOV.UK lists divorce and "returning to a previous surname" together, and the documents it asks for are your birth certificate, a statement signed by you that you have gone back to the previous surname "for all purposes", a document showing you use the name (a payslip or a letter from your council, for example), and the marriage or civil partnership certificate showing both names. A decree absolute or final order is not on the list. HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff (version 36.0) asks for the same four things when someone reverts to their birth name, and accepts a divorce document on its own only if it shows the link between the names. Its evidence guidance notes that divorce documents issued in England and Wales since 1971 do not show that link.
The same guidance says a marriage certificate handed to the court in divorce proceedings is returned only if you ask for it. If you are starting a divorce and want your birth name on your passport, ask for it back, or order a copy: a certificate for a marriage registered in England or Wales is £12.50 from the General Register Office.
Everyone else. GOV.UK's route for going back without a deed poll is the marriage certificate with the decree absolute, or the civil partnership certificate with the final order, and it warns that some organisations will not change a name back without a deed poll. While you are separated you have neither decree nor order, so it depends on each organisation's own policy. NatWest, for example, lists "Separation without divorce" and accepts the marriage certificate with your birth certificate. Lloyds Bank lists divorce papers or the decree absolute for going back after a divorce, and has no separation entry; otherwise it takes an enrolled deed poll, or an unenrolled one only alongside a passport or driving licence in the new name, as Santander does. So a passport in your birth name is often worth getting first: what each bank asks for.
If an organisation will not take your certificates, a deed poll ends the argument. It is one document, it says the same thing to everyone, and it does not depend on the stage your divorce has reached.
A new name, or an earlier name that is not your birth name#
The certificates only take you back to the name you were born with. HM Passport Office treats anything else as a new change of name, needing evidence of the change and of the name in use. That covers an earlier married name, a name you once changed to by deed poll, and a name you have never had. In each case the evidence of the change is a deed poll (or a statutory declaration), signed in your current name and the new one in front of a witness.
Does a legal separation or separation agreement change anything?#
Not for your name. GOV.UK describes a legal separation, called judicial separation, as a way to live apart without ending the marriage or civil partnership, so you remain married and no decree absolute or final order follows. The routes above are the ones open to you. A separation agreement between you and your spouse is not on GOV.UK's or HM Passport Office's lists of evidence for a change of name, so it does not do the job of a deed poll or a certificate.
Do I need my spouse's consent?#
Not for an ordinary deed poll. Your spouse plays no part in it, and you sign it with your own witnesses. Enrolment is different: if you choose to put the change on public record with the High Court, GOV.UK says a married applicant may be asked for the written consent of their husband, wife or partner, and a divorced applicant for a photocopy of the decree absolute or final order. Enrolment is optional, and an unenrolled deed poll is what most people use.
Your title and your marital status#
A deed poll changes names, not titles: GOV.UK says it cannot change a title such as Mr or Mrs. If you want to be Ms rather than Mrs, you simply tell each organisation: changing your title. Your marital status does not change with your name either. GOV.UK says you are divorced once you receive the final order or decree absolute, so until then you are still married, whatever name you use.
Scotland and Northern Ireland#
If you were born in Scotland, National Records of Scotland can record some changes of name against a birth entry, but it says the service cannot be used for a change because of marriage, divorce or a civil partnership. Going back to your birth name is therefore the certificates or a deed poll, and a deed poll works for people born or living in Scotland: changing your name in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, nidirect says a change can be recorded with the General Register Office for Northern Ireland, for £35, or made by deed poll.
Your children's names#
Your children's names do not change with yours. GOV.UK requires the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility, or a court order, and separating does not end anyone's parental responsibility. Changing a child's name after divorce or separation explains who must agree, and travelling with a child who has a different surname what to carry if your surnames now differ.
When the divorce is final#
Nothing more is needed if you have already changed your name: a deed poll, or a passport in your birth name, stays valid after the final order. Keep the deed poll or certificates with your other papers, because the passport office asks for evidence of every change of name later on. If you waited, going back to your maiden name after divorce covers the documents route, and changing your name after divorce the order in which to tell people.
Questions people ask
Can I go back to my maiden name before the divorce is final?
Yes. For a passport, GOV.UK's list is your birth certificate, your marriage certificate, a signed statement that you have gone back to the name for all purposes, and a document showing you use it; no decree is on it. Other organisations vary, and a deed poll covers every one of them.
Do I need my husband's or wife's permission to change my name?
No. GOV.UK says anyone aged 16 or over can make their own deed poll, and your spouse signs nothing. Only enrolment with the High Court may involve them: GOV.UK says a married applicant may be asked for their spouse's written consent.
How much does it cost to change my name while separated?
The change itself can cost nothing. A passport in the name is £102 online, a copy of a marriage certificate registered in England or Wales £12.50, and a deed poll from us, if you want one, £18.50. Every official fee is listed with its source.
Will my children's surnames change with mine?
No. A child's name changes only with the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility, or a court order, and separating does not change who holds it. Changing a child's name after divorce or separation.
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