What the certificate does#
GOV.UK's deed poll guidance is explicit: you do not need a deed poll to take your spouse's or civil partner's surname. You send a copy of your marriage or civil partnership certificate to the organisations that hold your records, and they change the name. The certificate records both of you under the names you married in, so it links your old name to the new one in a single document, which is exactly what a deed poll does for everyone else.
That covers the common case, a wife taking her husband's surname, and every other case where one partner takes the other's surname. It also covers keeping your own name, because nothing changes and no one needs telling.
Double-barrelled and blended names#
HM Passport Office accepts the marriage or civil partnership certificate for a double-barrelled surname: GOV.UK's passport guidance says to send the certificate when you apply for a passport in your new name, "this includes double-barrelled names". Banks generally follow the passport office, but they are not obliged to, and a few organisations will want to see a document that shows the exact double-barrelled form. If one refuses the certificate, a deed poll in the new name settles it for everyone.
A blended or meshed surname, a new name made from parts of both, is not on the certificate, and neither is a surname you both adopt that belongs to neither of you. For those, each partner who changes needs a deed poll, because GOV.UK's route for any name the certificate does not show is a deed poll. Do I need a deed poll after getting married? sets the cases side by side.
Your passport: before or after the ceremony#
GOV.UK's passport guidance lets you get the new passport either way. After the ceremony, you send the certificate with your application. Before it, you can apply up to three months ahead: your old passport is cancelled, the new one is post-dated so it cannot be used until the ceremony, and you must send a "passports for newly weds and civil partners" form signed by the religious minister or registrar who will conduct the ceremony. GOV.UK warns that some countries will not issue visas for post-dated passports, so check with the embassy if you are travelling straight after the wedding, and that the name on your passport must match the one you use to book travel.
Changing your name with HM Passport Office has the fees and the timing; a standard application takes around three weeks.
Your home#
If you own property, HM Land Registry's guidance says the most common reason for changing a name in the register is marriage or civil partnership, and that lenders commonly refuse to lend unless your details match the register exactly. The change is form AP1 sent with your certificate to HM Land Registry's Citizen Centre, and there is nothing to pay. Changing your name on the property register has the address and the identity forms.
The bank, and the order of things#
Banks take the certificate. NatWest's published list, for example, asks for the marriage or civil partnership certificate and nothing else for a change of name on marriage, through its app, by telephone banking or in branch. Change the bank early, because your employer, HMRC and any benefits pay into it, and the name they pay should be the name the bank holds.
A workable order is: bank, employer and HMRC, then passport and driving licence, then everyone else who can wait. Who to tell, and in what order has the full list. Certified copies are less of an issue than with a deed poll, because you can order extra copies of a marriage certificate from the register office, but they take time to arrive, so order them with the wedding paperwork rather than after.
Civil partnerships#
Everything above applies equally to civil partners: GOV.UK treats the civil partnership certificate exactly as it treats a marriage certificate, and so do HM Passport Office and HM Land Registry.
Marrying abroad#
A marriage certificate issued abroad is still a marriage certificate, and HM Passport Office accepts foreign certificates as evidence of a change of name provided they are original documents; it does not accept photocopies. If the certificate is not in English or Welsh, organisations will ask for a translation. If a foreign certificate causes friction with a UK organisation, a deed poll made here removes the doubt.
When you would rather have a deed poll anyway#
Some people prefer a deed poll even where the certificate would do: because they are changing a forename at the same time, because they want a document in the new name alone, or because they do not want to send the marriage certificate to a dozen organisations. A deed poll can record a surname taken on marriage as well as any other change, and it is accepted everywhere the certificate is. It is your choice; the certificate route is free.
