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| Information and advice about officially changing your legal name by Deed Poll |
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About Deed Polls Applying for a Deed Poll Services for previous clients General name change information UK Deed Poll Service |
About Deed Polls Is a Deed Poll registered anywhere? Contrary to popular belief, there is no central register of name changes in the United Kingdom. Deed Polls are not registered anywhere unless they are "enrolled" i.e. lodged for safe keeping, in the Close Rolls of the Chancery (from 1851 to 1902) and from 1903, in the Enrolment Books of the Supreme Court of Judicature, which is located within the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London. After about five years, the court's enrolled Deed Poll records are transferred to the National Archives, which is situated in Kew, Surrey. The National Archives contain Deed Poll records going back to 1851. Enrolling a Deed Poll provides a public record of a person's name change and since 1914 the details of the name change are advertised in either the London or Belfast Gazette [What is the London Gazette - opens pop-up window]. Alarmingly, the person's name change details and home address are also published on the London Gazette's website for all to see. Fortunately, it is not a requirement to enrol a Deed Poll. Furthermore, because enrolling significantly adds to the cost and the time taken to change a person's name and because most people who change their name only wish to inform those who have a reason to know, only about 250 enrolled Deed Polls are issued annually. We, on the other hand, issue 60,000 "unenrolled" Deed Polls annually and our records are confidential and not available for public inspection. One other reason enrolled Deed Polls are not popular is the requirement for separated women to have their husband's written consent to revert to their maiden name. Also, the witness to the signing of an enrolled Deed Poll needs to be a UK property owner who has known the person changing their name for at least ten years. This needs to be confirmed by the witness swearing a Statutory Declaration before a solicitor or Commissioner for Oaths. Whereas the Deed Polls we issue simply need to be witnessed by someone independent such as a friend, neighbour or work colleague. Deed Poll trivia We issue annually more Deed Polls than have been lodged at the National Archives since 1851. Last updated: 28 December 2012
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