Deed Poll Information

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Legal )



A deed poll (also known as change of name deed) is a legal document containing a statement of your intention to abandon your former name, to adapt a new name and your intention to require all persons to address you by your new name. The deed poll must be signed, dated and witnessed in order for it to be a legally binding and a valid document.

In the UK, a deed poll is required as documentary evidence when you wish to apply for a change in name in your passport, driver’s license, medical records, bank account, etc.

With a deed poll, aside from the change in your surname, you can also change your first name, the order of your existing names, or even add names under the condition that you are not doing this to defraud, deceive or avoid your creditors.

A child’s name may be changed using a deed poll for as long as those responsible for the child agree to the change in name.

Once a deed poll is issued, you will need to correspond with everyone you know to inform them of the change in your name enclosing a copy of your deed poll.

A deed poll may be made by any British citizen 16 years old and up, of any nationality living anywhere in the world including the UK. It should be noted that deed polls are only valid in the UK and accepted by the UK government or companies. If you are a foreigner living in the UK, you should make an inquiry with your country’s embassy to see if a deed poll can be issued as documentation when applying for a new passport using a new name.

There is no central department or place that keeps a record of all the deed polls issued. Instead, your change of name appears on the local papers along with your home address in most cases.

Names of birth certificates can only be changed under rare cases. For more information, you may contact your Local Civil Registrar’s office.

There are companies that handle the processing of a deed poll for you. Applications can be submitted via the company’s website, by phone (for adult deed polls only), by post or in person.

Once the deed poll document is received, you should sign and date the document in the presence of another party.

A deed poll is different from a deed of assignment where the latter is related to the transfer of the owner's name in a property.


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