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Charities

Charities that help with changing your name after domestic abuse

No charity signs the deed for you, but the right one helps you plan when and how to change your name so the change does not lead back to you.

Checked against The charities' own pages and GOV.UK Updated

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The short answer

Specialist domestic abuse services help with the safety around a new name rather than the deed itself. Helplines and local services make safety plans, refuge staff advise on addresses and documents, Rights of Women gives women free legal advice, and Surviving Economic Abuse explains banks and credit files. The deed poll you make yourself, free or paid.

Key facts

Planning the change safely
National Domestic Abuse Helpline and local domestic abuse services
Legal advice for women
Rights of Women, England and Wales
Banks, debts and credit files
Surviving Economic Abuse's guides
Your own deed poll
Free with GOV.UK's wording; nobody else has to agree
In an emergency
Contact the police
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On this page 6 sections
  1. Which charities can help me change my name after domestic abuse?
  2. What does a change of name involve after domestic abuse?
  3. Charities that can help
  4. What each kind of charity can help with
  5. How do I contact them safely?
  6. Can I make the deed poll myself, for free?

Which charities can help me change my name after domestic abuse?#

Start with a specialist domestic abuse service. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline, Women's Aid, Refuge and the national services for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland help you plan a new name around your safety; Rights of Women gives women free legal advice, and Surviving Economic Abuse explains how to change banks and credit records safely.

None of these charities makes deed polls, and none of the domestic abuse, stalking, sexual violence or trafficking charities we read in October 2026 tells people which legal route to use. What they give you is the part a deed poll cannot: someone who knows your situation, helps you choose the timing, and can speak to organisations for you. The deed itself is a short document you can make at home (see below).

What does a change of name involve after domestic abuse?#

In brief, and each step has its own page in this handbook:

  • Your own name needs nobody's agreement and no reason. From 16 you can make a deed poll, sign it before two adult witnesses and use it at once. Kept unenrolled, it is filed nowhere.
  • Enrolment is optional and public. GOV.UK says enrolling puts your change of name and your address in The Gazette; a judge may agree to print only your first name or your surname if you give a strong reason. Changing your name to stay safe explains what else publishes a name and the order for updating records quietly.
  • Your children's names follow a different rule: everyone with parental responsibility agrees, or a court decides. Changing your name after domestic abuse covers the court's safeguards, a confidential address and legal aid.
  • Your address can reach public records on its own. Keeping your address off your documents goes through the electoral register and the rest.
  • Living in a refuge? See changing your name while living in a refuge.

One Home Office rule is worth knowing before you speak to a charity. Its guidance on names says that where a victim of domestic violence or stalking changes their name to avoid harm, the application for a passport or other Home Office document should be supported by an appropriate authority, such as the police or a refuge service, and it will consider letting that person use more than one name.

Charities that can help#

National helplines and federations

Local refuge and outreach services

Honour-based abuse, and Black and minoritised women

Stalking and sexual violence

Modern slavery and trafficking

Victims of crime

Other specialist services

Every entry was checked against the charity's register entry and its own website on . Being listed does not mean a charity recommends Deed Polls Online, and none has paid to be here. Something out of date? Tell us.

What each kind of charity can help with#

Helplines and local domestic abuse services

The National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, is free, confidential and open around the clock, with live chat on its website. Local services are found through the Women's Aid Directory, Scottish Women's Aid's group finder, Welsh Women's Aid's local service finder and Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland's local groups. The national helplines for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland take calls, chat or email.

What to ask them:

  • Can you help me make a safety plan that includes when I change my name, and which records to change first?
  • If I still live with the person, what can I prepare now and what should wait until I have left?
  • Can you write a letter confirming my situation or my address, for a bank or for an application in my new name?

IDAS, a Yorkshire charity, lists changing your name among the ways to stay safer after leaving. A local worker is the person to talk it through with.

Refuges

Refuge runs refuges across England, and the directories above list the rest. Refuge addresses are kept confidential, so never put one on a deed, a form or an order without asking staff first. Ask the staff which address to give for post and documents, and whether any organisation you need has accepted the refuge's arrangements before. Refuge's tech safety guide to keeping your address safe covers the open electoral register, people-search websites and redirecting post.

Rights of Women gives women free legal advice by phone on family, criminal and immigration law in England and Wales, with a safe-exit button on its site; the National Domestic Abuse Helpline sends people there for non-molestation orders. The Men's Advice Line publishes legal factsheets for men. Ask about a child's name, the court forms, protective orders and whether you qualify for legal aid: GOV.UK says legal aid may be available with evidence of domestic abuse, and a legal adviser applies for you.

Banks, debts and credit files

Surviving Economic Abuse publishes guides rather than individual advice. Its page on opening a new bank account safely says to use an address the abuser cannot reach, that some banks may accept a refuge or safe house address with a PO box, and that a bank may consider a letter from a refuge, a social worker or a local authority in place of the usual documents. Its credit report guide explains how to break a financial link with a former partner.

Specialist services

How do I contact them safely?#

If you are in immediate danger, contact the police. Otherwise:

  • Use a device the other person cannot check. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline suggests leaving its site and returning from a safe device if you think yours is monitored, and Women's Aid explains how to cover your tracks online.
  • Use the charity's own website to find its contact options, and look for its exit button. Most of the sites above have one, as does this page.
  • Think about post and email. Ask for replies by a route only you use, and leave your new name out of any message the other person might see.

Can I make the deed poll myself, for free?#

Yes. GOV.UK publishes the wording of an unenrolled deed poll, and anyone aged 16 or over can write it out, sign it in front of two witnesses aged 18 or over, and use it straight away. It costs nothing. GOV.UK adds that some organisations turn down a deed witnessed by a close relative or by someone at your address.

GOV.UK's wording includes an address, and so does ours: our deed prints the address you give when you order, so decide with your support worker which one that should be. A paid deed poll adds a checked draft on certificate paper, optional certified copies for sending away, and a refund if an organisation refuses it; can I get a deed poll for free? sets the two side by side. Charities are listed here because of the help they give. A listing does not mean a charity recommends us, and none of them has reviewed this page.

Questions people ask

Is there a free deed poll for people leaving domestic abuse?

Anyone aged 16 or over can make one at no cost with GOV.UK's published wording, so a survivor needs no special scheme for that. What costs money is optional: certificate paper, a checked draft, certified copies or enrolment. Can I get a deed poll for free? compares them.

Will the person who abused me be told about my new name?

Not by a deed poll you keep unenrolled: nobody is notified and nothing is filed. Enrolment is different, because it publishes a notice and, if you are married to or in a civil partnership with them, involves them. Can someone find out my new name? covers the records that can show it.

Can a support worker help with my passport in a new name?

The Home Office's guidance on names says an application from a victim of domestic violence or stalking who changes their name to stay safe should be supported by an appropriate authority, such as the police or a refuge service. Ask your support worker what they can provide.

Something else? Ask us, and a person replies by email, normally the same working day.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these on . If a source has changed since, tell us and we will correct the page.