What Child Law Advice is#
Child Law Advice is run by Coram Children's Legal Centre, which describes itself as the UK's leading children's legal charity and is part of the Coram group. It calls itself a digital-first service: free legal information on family and education law for parents, carers and young people in England, with initial advice for people who still need help after reading it. Its sister site, Lawstuff, explains the same law to young people themselves.
How to get advice, and its limits#
The contact page lists an email advice form that you can send at any time (it aims to reply within five working days), a web chat on weekday office hours, limited telephone lines, and a bookable call-back, which is a paid service. It asks people to read its information pages first and to call only with clarifying questions, because demand is high.
Some limits are worth knowing before you write. It can advise only if the child lives in England, only on family or education law, and not if you already have a solicitor or have applied for legal aid through one for the same matter. It needs your name, address and a contact number to advise. An interpreter can be arranged.
Its guide to a child's surname#
Its page "Changing a child's surname" is careful and current (it says it was correct on 17 September 2026). In summary:
- Consent. A person with parental responsibility can change any part of a child's name by deed poll if everyone else with parental responsibility consents, or with a court order. Consent is needed for a child under 16.
- If someone refuses. You can ask the family court for a specific issue order. You would need to show that the change is in the child's best interests under the welfare checklist, and it notes that courts treat a name as part of a child's identity.
- If a parent is absent. A deed poll without that parent's consent may be possible where you cannot find them after reasonable steps, but its use may be restricted, and it says HM Passport Office can be strict. A court application may be the stronger, and preferable, route.
- A father without parental responsibility should reasonably be contacted first, and can apply to have a change reversed.
- "Known as" names. Schools and GPs can often record a known-as name beside the legal one, but under a child arrangements order or special guardianship order the child cannot be known by a new surname without written consent from everyone with parental responsibility, or the court's agreement.
- Birth certificates are rarely amended: a first name can be changed within twelve months of registration, and genuine errors corrected.
Lawstuff adds the young person's view: at 16 or over you can change your own name by deed poll, and under 16, if the case goes to court, you may get the chance to say what you want.
What it costs#
The page does not quote fees. HMCTS's family court fee list (EX50) gives £270 for a new Children Act application such as a specific issue order, and help with fees can reduce it. GOV.UK lists the fee to enrol a child's deed poll as £53.05.
Where the handbook goes further#
- Changing a child's surname without the other parent's consent: what the law and HM Passport Office expect.
- Specific issue orders: how the court decides, and the C100 form.
- Changing a child's name when the other parent is absent: what counts as reasonable steps.
- Updating a child's name at school: known-as names in practice.
This page describes what Child Law Advice publishes on its own websites, read on 26 October 2026. Coram Children's Legal Centre has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
