About Mencap#
Mencap began in 1946, when Judy Fryd, the mother of a child with a learning disability, wrote to a magazine asking other parents to join her. Today it campaigns, works with families and communities, and provides support services such as supported living, across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. More than 260 local groups run independently under the Mencap name as its network partners. Much of its advice is published in Easy Read as well as standard English.
Using the Learning Disability Helpline#
The Learning Disability Helpline has separate services for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You can contact it if you have a learning disability, if you are asking about someone who does, or if you want to understand learning disability better. Topics include social care and mental capacity, benefits, housing, safeguarding and moving into adulthood. You can phone on weekdays or use the email form, which aims to reply within seven working days. Mencap says it is not a crisis service; if someone is at immediate risk, call 999. Its helpline leaflets come in several languages, including Polish, Urdu and Punjabi.
What Mencap says about making decisions#
Mencap publishes nothing about changing a name, and nothing about anyone changing a name for someone else. Its Mental Capacity Act page begins with the point that every adult, whatever their disability, has the right to make their own decisions wherever possible. It explains the Act's five principles, which section 1 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets out: a person is assumed to have capacity unless it is shown they lack it; they must be given every practicable help to decide; an unwise decision is not a lack of capacity; anything done for someone who lacks capacity must be in their best interests; and the least restrictive option should be chosen. Mencap adds that a person may have capacity for some decisions and not others.
Its guide to appointees, deputies and powers of attorney explains the four ways one person can act for another, and what each covers: a DWP appointee manages benefits; an attorney acts under a power of attorney the person made; a deputy is appointed by the Court of Protection.
A name change and capacity#
A deed poll is the person's own decision, so the starting point is theirs. GOV.UK says anyone aged 16 or over can make one, signed in front of two adult witnesses. With support, such as an Easy Read explanation, time, and a trusted person to talk it through, many people with a learning disability can make that choice for themselves.
What GOV.UK does not do is set out a way to change the name of an adult who cannot make the decision. Its deed poll guide has no section on capacity. Its deputy guide says a deputy acts under a court order that states what they can and cannot do, and needs a separate order for a decision the first one does not cover; it says nothing about names. If you think someone you support cannot decide, ask the Office of the Public Guardian or a solicitor who works in the Court of Protection before anything is signed. Enrolment is different again: GOV.UK lists a consent letter among the documents it may ask for when the applicant cannot complete the form themselves for medical reasons.
If you are an attorney or deputy and a name changes#
If the person, or you, changes name after a lasting power of attorney is registered, GOV.UK says to tell the Office of the Public Guardian, with a copy of the deed poll or marriage certificate, and not to alter the document itself. Changing your name on a lasting power of attorney has the detail, and who can witness a deed poll covers the signing.
This page describes what Mencap publishes on its own website, with GOV.UK's guidance, read on 26 October 2026. Mencap has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
