Changing your name at 16 or 17

Yes: at 16, the decision is yours#

GOV.UK's deed poll guide says: "If you're 16 or over, you can make a deed poll yourself". Its section on children repeats the point: at 16 or 17 you may choose to make your own unenrolled deed poll. HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff puts it most plainly: from 16, a person can legally change their name and apply for an adult passport without the consent of everyone who holds parental responsibility.

You sign it yourself, with both your old and your new signature, while witnesses aged 18 or over watch, and the new name is usable straight away. HM Passport Office accepts a deed signed in both names, witnessed by at least one person, signed in wet ink and dated; GOV.UK's wording has two witnesses, and ours has space for both. At 16 or 17 the right one of ours is the adult deed poll, since the name being changed is your own. The eligibility checker confirms it in two questions, including whether a court order affects you.

What your parents can and cannot do#

In England and Wales your parents keep parental responsibility until you are 18, because the Children Act 1989 treats anyone under 18 as a child. On your name, though, their part narrows at 16.

• They do not have to agree. HM Passport Office's consent guidance says 16 and 17 year olds "can change their name without parental consent" unless a court order or a caveat prevents it.
• They cannot object at the passport office. Where there is no court order, the passport office's guidance says it will not accept objections to your change of name from anyone with parental responsibility. A caveat, a request not to issue a passport, usually needs a court order behind it, GOV.UK says.
• They cannot apply for your passport. HM Passport Office will not accept an application made by someone else for a 16 or 17 year old whose name has changed, unless you need help to apply or a court order applies. You apply, and consent, yourself.
• A court is unlikely to step in. Section 9(7) of the Children Act 1989 says a court will make a section 8 order, the kind that could forbid a change, about a child of 16 or over only if the circumstances are exceptional.

What a parent can do is enrol the change for you, if you want it on public record: see below.

The exceptions: court orders and care#

Some court orders last until you are 18 and say that nobody can cause you to be known by another name without the court's consent. HM Passport Office names three: child arrangements orders, special guardianship orders and care orders. If one applies to you, the change needs either the court's permission or consent from everyone who holds parental responsibility. The passport office then asks for that consent before issuing a passport, and returns the passport to the person who gave it. It also asks for parental consent if a parent or carer provides evidence, such as a court order or a doctor's letter, that you cannot make the decision yourself.

If your name was changed before you turned 16#

If a parent changed your name when you were younger, HM Passport Office still asks everyone who holds parental responsibility to consent to that change when you apply at 16 or 17. If you cannot get it, its guidance says you can make a new deed poll yourself instead.

Your passport#

At 16, or within three weeks of it, you apply for an adult passport, valid for 10 years: £102 online or £115.50 on a paper form. If you have a child passport, GOV.UK sends you to the adult renewal route. A new name means a new passport, and the name on it must match the one you use to book travel. Along with the deed poll you send one piece of evidence that you now use the name, dated within the last 12 months; the passport office's list includes a school report, a medical card and a bank statement. Changing your name with HM Passport Office.

School, college, exams and the NHS#

Ask your school or college to update its records first, because a school or college report in your new name is one of the documents the passport office accepts. If exams are close, talk to the exams officer early: AQA, one of the main exam boards, says it amends certificates only on the basis of a birth certificate and cannot reflect a deed poll change made after the results have been issued. For your health records, the NHS App's help pages say to contact your GP surgery. If you have a provisional driving licence, DVLA changes the name free on form D1. Who to tell, and in what order.

Enrolling at 16 or 17#

Enrolment puts the change on public record through the High Court. It is optional; the only difference it makes in practice is at a few banks, such as Lloyds, Halifax and Santander, which accept an unenrolled deed poll only with a passport or driving licence in the new name, and with Railcards, which ask for an enrolled one. Until you are 18 you cannot apply yourself: GOV.UK says a parent or guardian applies, and must include your letter of agreement, giving both names, which an adult who is not related to you must witness and sign. The Regulations also require the deed to carry your consent, signed in both names and witnessed, and the King's Bench Guide notes the court's forms have no space for it, so it has to be added. The fee is £53.05, and GOV.UK warns it may take several months. If you are or have been married or in a civil partnership, you enrol as an adult instead. How to enrol a deed poll.

Turning 18#

There is nothing to redo at 18: the deed you signed at 16 or 17 goes on proving your name, and parental responsibility ends. Section 91 of the Children Act ends court orders under the Act at 18 at the latest, and HM Passport Office no longer asks for parental consent to a change made when you were younger, treating keeping the name as your own decision as an adult. From 18 you can also enrol a deed poll yourself.

Scotland and Northern Ireland#

In Scotland, the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 gives a person of 16 or over legal capacity to enter into any transaction, and parents' rights under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 apply only to children under 16. A deed poll works there as anywhere in the UK. If your birth was registered in Scotland, you can also ask National Records of Scotland to record the change against your birth entry: the form for people over 16 must be signed by you, it costs £40, and NRS records one change of forename and up to three changes of surname, at least five years apart. Changing your name in Scotland.

In Northern Ireland a deed poll works in the same way at 16, but nidirect says a change recorded with the General Register Office for Northern Ireland before you are 18 needs a form signed by the qualified applicants, usually your parents or guardian. Changing your name in Northern Ireland.