Rule 1: you may use any name, unless you use it to deceive#
No Act of Parliament grants adults the right to change their name, because none is needed. Under the common law of England and Wales a person's name is the name they are known by, and an adult may adopt a new one simply by using it. The one limit is purpose: a name adopted to defraud, to evade a debt or an obligation, or to pass yourself off as someone else is a fraud, and the name change does not launder it.
That is why GOV.UK's rules for a new name are short and practical: it must be pronounceable, it must not contain symbols, numbers or punctuation, and it must not be offensive or against the public interest. Nobody approves the name. The organisations that hold your records simply need evidence that you have changed it, which is where the deed poll comes in.
Rule 2: a deed is binding because of how it is signed#
A deed poll is a deed, and a deed made by an individual is governed by section 1 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989. Three requirements make a document a deed:
- it must make clear on its face that it is intended to be a deed, which is what the words "signed as a deed" do;
- it must be signed by the person making it in the presence of a witness who attests the signature;
- it must be delivered as a deed, which in practice means completed and handed over as done.
The Act requires one attesting witness. GOV.UK's wording for a home-made deed poll names two, and two is what organisations expect to see, so two is the sensible number; a deed signed in front of one independent adult is nonetheless valid. The Act also abolished the old requirement for a seal, which is why nothing has to be stamped, sealed or registered for a deed poll to take effect.
Rule 3: a child's surname is decided by everyone with parental responsibility, or by the court#
The Children Act 1989 is the law here. Section 3 defines parental responsibility as all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority a parent has in relation to a child, and GOV.UK lists naming the child and agreeing to any change of name among what it covers. Where a child arrangements order is in force, section 13 says no person may cause the child to be known by a new surname without either the written consent of every person who has parental responsibility or the leave of the court; a similar rule in section 33 applies to a child in local authority care.
Outside those orders the same principle applies through the courts' decisions and GOV.UK's guidance: a child's name is changed with the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility, or with a court order, and GOV.UK says you must try to reach agreement before seeking one. The order is a specific issue order under section 8, applied for on form C100 at a fee of £263, and the court's paramount consideration is the child's welfare. A young person of 16 or 17 may make their own deed poll.
Rule 4: some people must report the change#
A registered sex, violent or terrorist offender must tell the police of a change of name within 3 days, at their prescribed police station, and GOV.UK says it is a criminal offence not to. GOV.UK's deed poll wording includes an acknowledgement of that duty "where applicable", so that everyone else can sign it truthfully. Anyone subject to a court order, bail or licence conditions, or an immigration condition should check that it allows a change of name before making one.
Rule 5: enrolment is optional, and a procedure rather than a requirement#
Enrolling a deed poll with the King's Bench Division of the High Court puts a change of name on public record, published in The Gazette. It costs £53.05, is done on the court's own forms, and can take several months. Nothing in the law requires it, and The National Archives records that fewer than 1% of changes of name by deed poll were ever enrolled. GOV.UK describes it as a choice.
What "for all purposes" means#
GOV.UK's wording has you declare that you have adopted the new name "for all purposes". That phrase is the undertaking that separates a legal change of name from a nickname or a pen name: you are giving up the old name entirely, not keeping it for some purposes and using the new one for others. It is also what an organisation is relying on when it changes your records. Nothing stops a writer or performer using a professional name as well, but the deed records the one name you are known by in law, and that is the name your documents should share.
Organisations set their own evidence rules#
No statute obliges a bank, an employer or a pension provider to accept a particular document; each decides what evidence of a change of name it will take, and almost all take an unenrolled deed poll. The two government bodies people meet first publish their rules. HM Passport Office's guidance to its own staff says an unenrolled deed poll, including one made online, must be accepted as evidence of a change of name provided it is signed in the old and new names, signed by at least one witness (who does not need to be a solicitor or a commissioner for oaths), signed in wet ink, and dated, and provided it is a contemporaneous document with nothing to doubt about its genuineness. DVLA asks for the original document confirming the new name and says not to send photocopies. Between them, those two rules describe what every well-made deed poll already is.
Marriage and divorce#
The law does not change anyone's name on marriage. Taking a spouse's surname is a custom, and the marriage or civil partnership certificate simply evidences the connection between the old name and the new one; GOV.UK says no deed poll is needed for it. After a divorce, the certificate with the decree absolute or final order evidences a return to the former name, though GOV.UK notes some organisations want a deed poll before they will change a name back. None of that involves a court deciding anything about the name.
Nobody owns a name#
There is no property in a personal name. Nobody can stop you adopting the same surname as a famous family, and a common surname is shared by thousands of people who are not related. What the law protects is trade: a trademark stops you selling goods under someone else's brand, and passing yourself off as a particular person to gain something is a fraud. Adopting a name is neither. HM Passport Office keeps its own list of names it will not print, which is a rule about passports rather than about the law of names.
Scotland and Northern Ireland#
Scots law treats a name in the same common law way: a person is known by the name they use, and a deed poll or a statutory declaration evidences a change. A young person in Scotland has legal capacity from 16 under the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991, which is why 16 is the age there too. What Scotland adds is an optional register: National Records of Scotland can record a change against a birth entry registered in Scotland, and Northern Ireland's registrar can do the same for a birth registered there. The Children Act 1989 and the enrolment procedure belong to the law of England and Wales; Scotland has its own rules on who holds parental rights and responsibilities. Changing your name in Scotland.
Where enrolment comes from#
Deed polls have been enrolled with the courts since the middle of the nineteenth century: The National Archives holds enrolment records from 1851, and notes that from 1914 every enrolled deed poll had to be advertised in a Gazette. The current procedure is set by the Enrolment of Deeds (Change of Name) Regulations 1994, which is why enrolment uses the court's own forms and its own statutory declaration rather than a deed you already hold. The regulations govern the register, not the change of name itself, which is complete the day the deed is signed.
What the law does not do#
- It does not give a deed poll an expiry date. A deed records what happened on the day it was signed and goes on proving it.
- It does not let a deed poll change a title, which is not part of a legal name, or the capitalisation of a name, both of which GOV.UK lists as things a deed poll cannot do.
- It does not amend a birth certificate in England and Wales for a later change of name. The register records the birth as it was.
- It does not let a permanent resident overseas change their name by deed poll, according to GOV.UK, because the deed poll is an instrument of the law of England and Wales.
- It does not require a solicitor. A deed poll is valid when signed in front of ordinary independent witnesses.
