About Deed Polls

What is a Deed Poll?
Why is it called a Deed Poll?
What is the purpose of a Deed Poll?
Who can apply for a Deed Poll?

How long does the process take?
Can I change my child’s name?
Can a birth certificate be changed?
Are there any restrictions on names?
Is a Deed Poll registered anywhere?
Why do people change their name?
Answers to other FAQs

Applying for a Deed Poll

How to apply
Services available and fees
Video guides

Services For Previous Clients

Apply for a copy of your archived Deed Poll
Apply for a replacement Deed Poll

Name Change Information

Introduction
A woman’s rights upon marriage
A man’s rights upon marriage
A couple’s rights upon a civil partnership
A woman’s rights upon separation
A woman’s rights upon divorce
A woman’s rights upon being widowed
A child’s rights upon adoption
Adding a middle name
Advice for transgender adults & children
An alternative to marriage
A unique gift
Changing your name on your passport
Obtaining a copy of your lost Deed Poll
Who to advise after changing your name

Terms and conditions and your rights

This page contains our terms and conditions and statutory information concerning your rights under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The following terms and conditions are governed by the laws of England. By accessing this website you consent to these terms and to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in all disputes arising out of such access. If any of these terms are deemed invalid or unenforceable for any reason, (including, but not limited to the exclusions and limitations set out below) then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be severed from these terms and the remaining terms will continue to apply.

Terms and conditions:


1. Our guarantee
2. Exceptions to our guarantee
3. If we make a mistake
4. If you make a mistake
5. Unacceptable names and titles
6. Other terms and conditions
7. Disclaimer


Statutory information and your rights:


1. Your right to cancel
2. Our fees
3. Payment
4. Delivery and performance
5. Force majeure
6. Who we are and our registration numbers

1. Our guarantee
Because we are the main issuer of Deed Poll documentation in the United Kingdom, if your Deed Poll bearing our official seal is not accepted as documentary evidence of your change of name by any United Kingdom government department (including HM Passport Office and the DVLA), or any UK company or organisation, we will give you a full refund but only after we have spoken to the organisation concerned to verify the reason for the non acceptance and had the opportunity to get your Deed Poll accepted. This is the limit of our liability (please see the exceptions below). Very occasionally, our clients have experienced problems getting their Deed Poll accepted (because some organisations, or their staff, do not know what a Deed Poll is). However, we have always overcome the problem by talking to the organisation concerned.

2. Exceptions to our guarantee
Our guarantee does not apply in the following situations (“record holder” means a government department, company or organisation):

  • If you are a foreign national.
  • If your Deed Poll is not accepted by a non UK record holder.
  • If your Deed Poll is not accepted because the record holder’s parental consent requirements have not been met.
  • If your Deed Poll has not been correctly executed.
  • If a record holder requires other documentary evidence that your name has been changed for “all purposes”, for example, some financial institutions and the General Medical Council and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons will want to see your passport in your new name before they will recognise your new name. Furthermore, HM Passport Office may require evidence that you are using your new name for all purposes by presenting them with two or three documents in your new name.
  • If you are a dual national and HM Passport Office will not issue you with a passport in your new name because you have not changed your other passport to your new name.
  • If a record holder is unable to correctly enter your name on their computer system, for example, because your name includes modified Latin characters or your forename or surname is too short or too long.
  • If a record holder changes their Deed Poll acceptance policy and we have not been made aware of the change.
  • If HM Passport Office deems your new name to be in breach of their inappropriate and temporary name change policy, which states the passport office will not issue a passport in a name they consider temporary or contains: a political statement, a string of words that will not normally be considered a name or a trade marked name.
  • If you are detained under the Mental Health Act and your clinicians decide you do not have sufficient mental capacity to understand the significance and consequences of changing your name.

Please note, a Deed Poll cannot be used to get your birth, adoption, marriage or decree absolute certificates changed. It is also not possible to get other permanent records such as past educational certificates changed because these are “matter of fact” in that they were in the correct name when issued.

3. If we make a mistake
If we make a spelling mistake with your names or address or any typographical error on your Deed Poll, we will send you a corrected Deed Poll the same day you notify us of the mistake free of charge.

4. If you make a mistake
If any mistake is made on your Deed Poll, which is due to incorrect information supplied to us (typographical errors such as spelling mistakes, wrong postcode etc), we will issue a replacement Deed Poll for £12 within two working days (working days are Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays). If delivery is to an overseas address, an additional £15 postage is payable for Royal Mail’s International Tracked and Signed service. This reduced fee replacement service only applies where there is a genuine mistake and it is not applicable if you have lost your Deed Poll or have changed your mind about your new name or require, for example, a different address on your Deed Poll. Furthermore, you will need to return your Deed Poll to us before we will issue a reduced fee replacement.

5. Unacceptable names and titles
We reserve the right not to accept an order for a Deed Poll that includes a name we consider vulgar, offensive, blasphemous or unsuitable. We will also not accept an order for a Deed Poll that includes a name or title that could make people believe you have a conferred or inherited honour, title or rank e.g. Sir, Lord, Lady, Baron, Baroness, Count, Countess, Duke, Duchess, General etc. Furthermore, we will only recognise genuine British titles. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into as to our reason for rejection.

6. Other terms and conditions

6.1 How names and addresses will appear on your Deed Poll document
To enable those who see your Deed Poll document to easily differentiate between your forenames and surname, your forenames will be printed in capitalised lower case and your surname in capital letters e.g. Mary Sarah SMITH and Katharine McLean Alice FORBES-HAMILTON. If any of your forenames start with Mc (or Mac), they will be printed as, for example, McDonald (or MacDonald). If your surname starts with Mc (or Mac), it will be printed as, for example, McDONALD (or MacDONALD). If you prefer such a forename to be printed in capitalised lower case (e.g. as Macdonald) or your surname to be printed in capital letters (e.g. MACDONALD), please tell us using the comments box on the application form. Except for the postcode, addresses will be printed in capitalised lower case.

6.2 The issue of legal copies of your executed Deed Poll document
We will only issue legal copies of your Deed Poll if it has been correctly executed (in accordance with the instructions enclosed with your Deed Poll document). If you return your executed Deed Poll to us for our Legal Copy and Archive Service and in our opinion, you have invalidated your Deed Poll, for example, your witness is not independent of you or you have altered your Deed Poll using correction fluid etc, we will ask you to pay a £15 fee for a replacement Deed Poll document and a new postage-paid return envelope. If you do not pay this fee, we reserve the right to return your Deed Poll document to you (without issuing legal copies of it) and refund the fee you paid for our Legal Copy and Archive Service less a £3 handling fee.

7. Disclaimer
Whilst every care has been taken in the compilation of the information provided on this website, UK Deed Poll Service will not be held liable or responsible for any loss, damage or other inconvenience caused as a result of any inaccuracy or error within the pages of this website.

Statutory information and your rights

The following information is provided in accordance with The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (“The Regulations”). The full text of which can be viewed by clicking here (opens new window). Your other consumer rights are not affected by these regulations.

1. Your right to cancel
The Regulations allow you to cancel your order within 14 days of submitting your application. However, because we will be preparing your Deed Poll documentation before the end of the cancellation period (and will have fully performed the service you have requested), your right to cancel is restricted to the period of time from submitting your application to when we prepare your Deed Poll documentation. This is in accordance with section 36(2) of The Regulations. By submitting an order you are agreeing to waive your 14 day cancellation rights under The Regulations. Therefore, if you wish to cancel your order (and receive a full refund if you have made payment), you must notify us by email or by post before we prepare your Deed Poll documentation.

2. Our fees
Our fees include all applicable taxes and delivery using our UK Standard service.

2.1 Adult and Child Deed Polls
(if ordered online, by post or in person)

Adult Child
Fee for one Deed Poll £33 £35
If a 2nd Deed Poll is also ordered £23 £25
If a 3rd (or more) Deed Poll is also ordered £13 £15

To qualify for the reduced fees for additional Deed Polls ordered, they must be ordered at the same time and have the same delivery and Deed Poll address.

Examples:
One adult = £33
Two adults = £33 + £23 = £56
One adult and one child = £33 + £25 = £58
Three children = £35 + £25 + £15 = £75

2.2 Adult and Child Deed Polls
(if ordered by phone)

* You can only order a Child Deed Poll by phone if you have sole parental responsibility.

Adult Child*
Fee for one Deed Poll £37 £39
If a 2nd Deed Poll is also ordered £27 £29
If a 3rd (or more) Deed Poll is also ordered £17 £19

To qualify for the reduced fees for additional Deed Polls ordered, they must be ordered at the same time and have the same delivery and Deed Poll address.

Examples:
Two adults = £37 + £27 = £64
One adult and one child = £37 + £29 = £66
Three children = £39 + £29 + £19 = £87

2.3 Family Deed Poll
(ordered online, by post or in person)

The fee for a Family Deed Poll is £33 for the applicant parent, £23 for a spouse/partner (if required) and £8 for each child included on the applicant parent’s Deed Poll. For example, the fee for a Deed Poll for one parent with two children under the age of 16 will be £33 + £8 + £8 = £49. The fee for both parents and two children under the age of 16 will be £33 + £8 + £8 + £23 = £72.

You cannot order a Family Deed Poll by phone because we need to receive a letter of consent for all children included on the application.

2.4 UK Standard service
The fee for our UK Standard Service, for addresses within the United Kingdom, is included in the price of your Deed Poll.

2.5 UK Priority service
The fee for our UK Priority Service, which is available for addresses within the United Kingdom, is £4.

2.6 UK Express service
The fee for our UK Express Service (for next working day delivery before 1pm), which is available for addresses within mainland United Kingdom, is £10.

2.7 UK Express (Saturday) service
The fee for our UK Express Service (for delivery on Saturday before 1pm), which is available for addresses within mainland United Kingdom, is £14.

2.8 UK Express Plus service
The fee for our UK Express Plus Service (for next day delivery before 9am), which is available for addresses within mainland United Kingdom, is £20.

2.9 UK Express Plus (Saturday) service
The fee for our UK Express Plus Service (for delivery on Saturday before 9am), which is available for addresses within mainland United Kingdom, is £24.

2.10 Overseas services
If your delivery address is outside the United Kingdom, an additional fee of £15 is payable (£25 for our Overseas Express service and £60 for our Overseas Express Courier service).

If you select our Overseas Express Courier service (using DHL), delivery to remote parts of some countries may result in DHL charging an additional “outside delivery area” fee, which will be passed on to you should the total cost of DHL’s delivery to your address, including the outside delivery area fee, cost us more than £60.

2.11 Legal Copy and Archive Service
The fee for our Legal Copy and Archive Service is £13 plus £1 for each legal copy ordered (minimum of two copies). If legal copies are subsequently ordered from our archives (i.e. at any time in the future), the fee is £14 for the first two copies and £2 for each additional copy. If your delivery address is outside the United Kingdom, an additional fee of £10 is payable to cover the postage of returning your Deed Poll and legal copies. Overseas deliveries are despatched using Royal Mail’s International Tracked and Signed service (if available), which is an accelerated airmail service.

Please note, if you return your Deed Poll to us for legal copies and you have incorrectly executed or invalidated the document by, for example, using a relative as a witness, a fee of £15 is payable to reissue your Deed Poll documentation. An additional fee of £10 is payable if we have to post your replacement Deed Poll to an overseas address.

If after receiving your Deed Poll documentation, you decide you no longer require our Legal Copy and Archive Service, you can obtain a full refund for the service (less a £2 administration fee) if you send back to us the postage-paid return envelope together with the return slip marked “Service no longer required, please refund.”

2.12 Change of title declaration
If you are applying for an Adult Deed Poll and are changing your title e.g. from Mrs to Miss, we can incorporate a change of title declaration on your Deed Poll document for which an additional £4 fee is payable.

If you are changing your title but do not wish to incur the £4 fee, please enter the same title as your current title and your new title on the application form. We will only include your title on your Deed Poll document if you are changing it. Therefore, by not showing a change of title, only your name change will be shown on your Deed Poll document.

2.13 Inclusion of an additional address
If you have another address that appears on some of your documents and records, we can also include this address on your Deed Poll document, for which an additional fee of £2 is payable.

2.14 Modifications to your Deed Poll
If you require your Deed Poll to be modified to include, for example a professionally known as name, an “also known as name”, a “formerly-known-as name” or a “registered at birth name”, a fee of £8 for each modification is payable. If you require a modification, please use the comments box on the application form. Other modifications that are required to your Deed Poll such as including the details of a court order or a DNA paternity test will incur a modification fee, which will usually not exceed £6.

2.15 Declaration for a past name change
If you order a Deed Poll to replace a lost Deed Poll or Statutory Declaration, we can modify your replacement Deed Poll to include a declaration that states you have been using your current name for all purposes since a particular date. If you require this modification made, for which an additional £4 fee is payable, please use the comments box on the application form to let us know when and how your name was changed to your current name.

2.16 Legalisation service
If you require your Deed Poll to be legalised with an Apostille by the UK government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, we can arrange this on your behalf for which a £55 fee is payable. The fee for additional documents is £40 each. If you live outside the UK, we will need to create a certified copy of your Deed Poll (which is the document that will be legalised) for which an additional fee of £20 is payable plus £10 postage for returning your original Deed Poll and legalised certified copy using Royal Mail’s International Tracked and Signed service (this £20 plus £10 fee is reduced to £25 if you also order our Legal Copy and Archive Service).

3. Payment
Payment is required in full for all chargeable items before we prepare your Deed Poll. If you are paying by debit or credit card, payment is deemed to have been made when we obtain authorisation from your card company. If you are paying by cheque, payment is deemed to have been made when your cheque has cleared (allow five working days for cheque clearance). If you are paying by postal orders, building society cheque or banker’s draft, payment is deemed to have been made upon their receipt.

4. Delivery and performance
(Working days are the weekdays Monday to Friday but exclude bank holidays)
Upon receipt of your application (application means your application form, payment and letter of consent if needed to support a Child or Family Deed Poll application), we will post your Deed Poll documentation in accordance with the service you requested, which are:

4.1 UK Standard service
Our UK Standard service is included in the fee for your Deed Poll. We aim to post your Deed Poll documentation to you within four working days of receiving your application using Royal Mail’s first class mail service.

If Royal Mail fails to deliver your Deed Poll documentation after seven working days have elapsed since posting, we will post replacement documentation to you free of charge but only after you have confirmed to us that you have visited your local Royal Mail delivery office to check your package is not there awaiting collection. This is the limit of our liability. For your information, your local Royal Mail delivery office is where you would go to collect an item of post when you are left a “Something for you” card (which Royal Mail does not always leave).

Please note, we must be notified in writing or by email of non-delivery within 21 days of our posting to qualify for a free replacement.

If you require your Deed Poll documentation urgently and do not want to wait until after seven working days for a free replacement to be posted to you, you can ask us to immediately post replacement documentation to you (i.e. before the end of the seven working day period) for which a refundable fee of £12 is payable. Please note, this fee will be refunded to you when either (a) you return the original package to us if it is eventually delivered to you, or (b) Royal Mail return your original package to us marked ‘Return to sender’ (this usually takes Royal Mail six weeks to do). If you require your replacement document to be posted using Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service (for guaranteed next working day delivery by 1pm), an additional £8 fee payable (which is not refundable).

4.2 UK Priority service
Our UK Priority service uses Royal Mail’s first class mail service for delivery to UK addresses. We will post your Deed Poll documentation the same day we receive your application if received by 3.30pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays).

If Royal Mail fails to deliver your Deed Poll documentation after seven working days have elapsed since posting, we will post replacement documentation to you free of charge but only after you have confirmed to us that you have visited your local Royal Mail delivery office to check your package is not there awaiting collection. This is the limit of our liability. For your information, your local Royal Mail delivery office is where you would go to collect an item of post when you are left a “Something for you” card (which Royal Mail does not always leave).

Please note, we must be notified in writing or by email of non-delivery within 21 days of our posting to qualify for a free replacement.

If you require your Deed Poll documentation urgently and do not want to wait until after seven working days for a free replacement to be posted to you, you can ask us to immediately post replacement documentation to you (i.e. before the end of the seven working day period) for which a refundable fee of £12 is payable. Please note, this fee will be refunded to you when either (a) you return the original package to us if it is eventually delivered to you, or (b) Royal Mail return your original package to us marked ‘Return to sender’ (this usually takes Royal Mail six weeks to do). If you require your replacement document to be posted using Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service (for guaranteed next working day delivery by 1pm), an additional £8 fee payable (which is not refundable).

4.3 UK Express service
Our UK Express service is available for delivery to most United Kingdom mainland addresses. We will post your Deed Poll documentation using Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service, which guarantees delivery by 1pm next working day to most UK mainland addresses. Working days are Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Your application must be received by 3.30pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays) for same day despatch.

If Royal Mail fails to deliver, or attempts to deliver, in accordance with their delivery guarantee (and we are notified within seven days of posting) we will we will issue a replacement Deed Poll free of charge (if necessary) and refund you £8, which is the limit of our liability.

4.4 UK Express (Saturday) service
Our UK Express (Saturday) service is available for delivery to most United Kingdom mainland addresses. We will post your Deed Poll documentation using Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service, which guarantees delivery by 1pm on Saturday to most UK mainland addresses. Your application must be received by 3.30pm on a Friday (except bank holidays) for Saturday delivery.

If Royal Mail fails to deliver, or attempts to deliver, in accordance with their delivery guarantee (and we are notified within seven days of posting) we will we will issue a replacement Deed Poll free of charge (if necessary) and refund you £12, which is the limit of our liability.

4.5 UK Express Plus service
Our Express Plus service is available for delivery to most United Kingdom mainland addresses. We will post your Deed Poll documentation using Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service, which guarantees delivery by 9am next working day to most UK mainland addresses. Working days are Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays. Your application must be received by 3.30pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays) for same day despatch.

If Royal Mail fails to deliver, or attempts to deliver, in accordance with their delivery guarantee (and we are notified within seven days of posting) we will issue a replacement Deed Poll free of charge (if necessary) and refund you £18, which is the limit of our liability.

4.6 UK Express Plus (Saturday) service
Our Express Plus (Saturday) service is available for delivery to most United Kingdom mainland addresses. We will post your Deed Poll documentation using Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service, which guarantees delivery by 9am on Saturday to most UK mainland addresses. Your application must be received by 3.30pm on a Friday (except bank holidays) for Saturday delivery.

If Royal Mail fails to deliver, or attempts to deliver, in accordance with their delivery guarantee (and we are notified within seven days of posting) we will we will issue a replacement Deed Poll free of charge (if necessary) and refund you £22, which is the limit of our liability.

4.7 Overseas Standard service
We aim to post your Deed Poll documentation within four working days using Royal Mail’s International Tracked and Signed service, which is an accelerated air mail service. If your Deed Poll documentation fails to arrive, we will issue a replacement free of charge once Royal Mail confirms your package has been lost. This is the limit of our liability. If, in the meantime, you require replacement Deed Poll documentation to be posted to you, a fee of £25 is payable, which will be refunded when Royal Mail confirms your package has been lost.

4.8 Overseas Express service
We will post your Deed Poll documentation the same day using Royal Mail’s International Tracked and Signed service, which is an accelerated air mail service, if your application is received by 3.30pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays). If your Deed Poll documentation fails to arrive, we will issue a replacement free of charge once Royal Mail confirms your package has been lost. This is the limit of our liability. If, in the meantime, you require replacement Deed Poll documentation to be posted to you, a fee of £25 is payable, which will be refunded when Royal Mail confirms your package has been lost.

4.9 Overseas Express Courier service
We will post your Deed Poll documentation the same day using DHL’s International Express service if your application is received by 1pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays). If your Deed Poll documentation fails to arrive, we will issue a replacement free of charge once DHL confirms your package has been lost. This is the limit of our liability. If, in the meantime, you require replacement Deed Poll documentation to be posted to you, a fee of £72 is payable, which will be refunded when DHL confirms your package has been lost.

4.10 Legal Copy and Archive Service delivery services
Upon receipt of your correctly executed Deed Poll, we aim to post your legal copies and original Deed Poll document back to you within two working days using Royal Mail’s first class mail service.

If Royal Mail fails to deliver your Deed Poll and legal copies after seven working days have elapsed since posting, we will post replacements to you free of charge but only after you have confirmed to us that you have visited your local Royal Mail delivery office to check your package is not there awaiting collection. This is the limit of our liability. For your information, your local Royal Mail delivery office is where you would go to collect an item of post when you are left a “Something for you” card (which Royal Mail does not always leave).

Please note, we must be notified in writing or by email of non-delivery within 21 days of our posting to qualify for a free replacement.

If you require your Deed Poll and legal copies urgently and do not want to wait until after seven working days for free replacements to be posted to you, you can ask us to immediately post replacement legal copies to you (i.e. before the end of the seven working day period) for which a refundable fee of £12 is payable. Please note, this fee will be refunded to you when either (a) you return the original package to us if it is eventually delivered to you, or (b) Royal Mail return your original package to us marked ‘Return to sender’ (this usually takes Royal Mail six weeks to do). If you require your replacement legal copies to be posted using Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service (for guaranteed next working day delivery by 1pm), an additional £8 fee payable (which is not refundable).

If your delivery address is outside the United Kingdom, your Deed Poll and legal copies will be posted using Royal Mail’s International Tracked and Signed service. If your Deed Poll and legal copies fail to arrive, we will issue replacements free of charge once Royal Mail confirms your package has been lost. This is the limit of our liability. If, in the meantime, you require a replacement Deed Poll and legal copies to be posted to you, a refundable fee of £30 is payable, which will be refunded when Royal Mail confirms your package has been lost.

Please note, we must be notified of non-delivery in writing or by email within 28 days of our posting to an overseas address to qualify for a free replacement.

5. Force majeure
We shall not be liable for any failure to provide our services if such failure results from any act of God, riot, war, civil unrest, official or unofficial industrial action, flood or other cause beyond our reasonable control (including any mechanical, electronic, or communications failure or failure by Royal Mail, DHL or any other postal delivery service to deliver items posted to you).

6. Who we are and our registration numbers
UK Deed Poll Service and DeedPollsOnline.co.uk are the trading names of UK Deed Poll Service Limited, incorporated in England number 08587775. Our principal trading address is Freebournes Court, Witham, CM8 2BL. Our registered office address is Swiss House, Beckingham Street, Tolleshunt Major, Maldon, CM9 8LZ. Our VAT registration number is 173850395. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under registration reference ZA036383.

Last updated: 18 July 2023