Do I need to send my signed deed poll to anyone?

Is there anywhere I have to send it?#

No. Once you and your witnesses have signed, the deed poll is finished. GOV.UK's guidance on what comes after making one says that you can use it as proof of your new name straight away. The one further duty it mentions is for registered sex, violent and terrorist offenders, who have 3 days to report the change to the police, in person at their local prescribed police station (changing your name with a criminal record).

Nobody files or approves an unenrolled deed poll. HM Passport Office's guidance describes one as a deed that has not been endorsed by the court, and The National Archives notes that a deed made without a solicitor may leave no record at all other than the document itself.

Nothing goes back to whoever drafted it, either. A deed poll from us is yours to keep once it is signed; we do not need to see it again.

What about enrolling it?#

Enrolment is a separate application, and an optional one. It puts a change of name on public record with the High Court for £53.05 and publishes the change, with your address, in The Gazette; GOV.UK puts the wait at several months. It has its own deed, form LOC020, which you sign in front of two witnesses and post to the Deed Poll Office with a statutory declaration and exhibits. Even then, the sealed deed is posted back to you. How to enrol a deed poll covers each step.

Who do I show it to, and in what order?#

Every organisation that holds your records in the old name, in an order that saves time. Begin with those whose letters or statements will soon carry the new name, such as your employer, your bank, the council and HMRC: HM Passport Office and DVLA both want to see a document like that beside the deed. Then the passport, then the driving licence, then everyone else. Who to tell, and in what order has the full list.

Which organisations need the original?#

HM Passport Office and DVLA. The passport office's guidance says evidence of a change of name must be an original or a replacement document, and its rules on documents allow a certified copy only in limited cases where the original cannot be obtained. DVLA asks for the original documents that confirm your new name and says not to send photocopies.

Both post it back separately from the passport or licence, so send it to one, wait for it to come home, then send it to the other.

Will I get it back?#

Yes, from both.

• HM Passport Office. GOV.UK says supporting documents come back separately from the passport, free by second class post, or by secure delivery if you choose it on the application, which usually costs £5 more. The office's guidance to its staff says it does not use a self-addressed envelope you enclose, so choose the delivery method on the application instead. If you need the deed back while the application is still open, you can ask the office in writing, signed and dated, or by email from the address on the application.
• DVLA. GOV.UK's page on the documents for a driving licence application, which lists a deed poll among them, says your licence and your identity documents come back separately, the documents by second class post. For a return you can track, GOV.UK suggests enclosing your own stamped, addressed envelope for Special Delivery or Signed For, and it says to contact DVLA if they do not arrive.

Who gets a certified copy instead?#

Most other organisations that ask to see evidence. GOV.UK's guidance on certifying documents gives applying for a bank account or a mortgage as examples of when you may be asked for certified true copies. Anything an organisation files stays filed, so it should be a copy, not your original, that goes into their records.

What a certified copy is, how many you need and who can certify one cover the detail, and will a photocopy or PDF do? looks at plain copies. Ours are ordered with the deed and start at £6 for two.

How do I keep the original safe?#

Treat it as the only copy, because it usually is. The National Archives adds that where a solicitor drew up a deed, any copy on the solicitor's file is unlikely to survive more than five years.

• Keep it with the papers you would not want to replace, such as your birth certificate, flat and dry.
• Do not laminate it. DVLA says not to send laminated certificates.
• Note when it goes out. While it is away at HM Passport Office or DVLA, keep a note of the date you posted it, and check it is back before you send it anywhere else.
• If it goes missing, your name has not changed back, and a replacement records the same change and date (I have lost my deed poll).