Does my child need a new deed poll when they turn 18?

Is a child's deed poll still valid at 18?#

Yes. GOV.UK treats a deed poll as legal proof of a change of name, and the change a child's deed records took effect on the day it was signed. An 18th birthday does not undo that change or the evidence of it, and neither GOV.UK nor HM Passport Office asks for the deed to be made again at 18.

The clearest statement is in HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff, which deals with exactly this case. For an applicant aged 18 or over whose name was changed before they turned 16, it says they are legally an adult and do not need parental consent. The office will treat the application as "an informed decision as an adult to keep the name" if they send evidence of the change, such as a change of name deed made before they turned 16, and evidence that they use the name for all official purposes.

So when a passport application at 18 or over includes the change, the childhood deed poll is the evidence of it. Alongside it, the passport office wants one document showing the name in use, such as a bank statement, an official letter from an employer, or an educational record such as a school report, issued in the last 12 months.

What is different at 16 and 17?#

Between 16 and 18 a young person is still legally a child, and the passport office treats a name a parent changed before 16 differently from one the young person changed themselves:

• Changed by a parent before 16. Accepted with evidence of the change and of the name in use, provided there is no court order and the office has consent from everyone with parental responsibility. The reason it gives is that someone with parental responsibility could object to a change made while the young person was a child.
• Consent not available. The guidance says the young person can instead send a new change of name document they have completed themselves.
• Changed by the young person after 16. No consent is needed, and nobody with parental responsibility can object, as long as no court order is in place.

This is where a new deed makes a practical difference for a passport: a 16 or 17 year old who needs a passport in the name, and cannot get everyone's consent to the earlier change, can sign their own deed poll. From 18, the question falls away.

These rules are for a young person who "applies for a passport with a change of name", in the guidance's words. For a renewal, the passport office's evidence rules look back to the name on the last passport, so a child passport already issued in the new name, with the written consent of everyone with parental responsibility that GOV.UK asks for, is the starting point for the adult one.

Does my child need a new passport at 16 or 18?#

Not because of the birthday. GOV.UK says a child passport lasts 5 years and an adult passport 10, and that a child passport can be used until it expires, even after 18. From 16, or three weeks before, a young person who had a child passport follows the adult renewal process, and one who never had a passport applies for a first adult passport. An adult passport costs £102 online or £115.50 with a paper form.

Why might an organisation ask for more?#

A child's deed poll is signed by a parent on the child's behalf, so the young person's own signature is not on it. That is how a child's deed is made, and the passport office's approach shows it is no obstacle for an adult. Other organisations set their own evidence rules, and GOV.UK notes that some banks, mobile phone companies and energy providers may only accept an enrolled deed poll.

If an organisation asks a young adult for a deed poll they have signed themselves, ask what exactly it needs and where that requirement is written, and point to the passport office's guidance, which accepts the childhood deed from an adult: what to do if an organisation refuses your deed poll.

When is a new adult deed poll worth making?#

It is not required by any of the sources above, but it is the right tool in a few situations:

• A different name. An adult who wants to change their name again, or go back to an earlier one, makes their own deed poll: changing your name back.
• Sixteen or seventeen, without consent. As above, when a passport application needs consent to an earlier change that cannot be given.
• A lost childhood deed. The change still stands, but the evidence needs replacing: I have lost my deed poll.
• A preference. A young adult may simply want a deed in their own name and signature. That is a choice, not a requirement.

If your child wants one, our adult deed poll costs £18.50. A paralegal drafts and checks every deed, and we post it the same working day.

From 18 your child can also apply to put a change of name on public record by enrolling a deed poll with the High Court. It is optional. GOV.UK sets the fee at £53.05, and says the change is published in The Gazette and can take several months: how to enrol a deed poll.

Keeping the childhood deed safe#

The deed poll made for your child is the document that links the name on their birth certificate to the name they use, and it will be asked for again. HM Passport Office needs the original, and GOV.UK says supporting documents come back separately from the passport. Where an organisation keeps a copy on file, send a certified copy instead. When your child leaves home, give them the original with their birth certificate.

What can a 16 or 17 year old already do?#

HM Passport Office's guidance says that from 16 a person can make their own change of name deed and apply for an adult passport without the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, so the question of a new deed can come up before 18: changing your name at 16 or 17. If a court order such as a child arrangements order is still in force, the passport office checks what consent it requires, and some orders run to the 18th birthday.