Deed Poll: How to Legally Change Your Name in the UK

A deed poll is the legal document used to change your name in England and Wales. You can make your own "unenrolled" deed poll for free, or pay £53.05 to enrol one with the High Court, which puts your new name on the public record in The Gazette, address included by default.

What Is a Deed Poll?

A deed poll is a legal document that proves a change of name. gov.uk describes it plainly: "A deed poll is a legal document that proves a change of name." This guide covers England and Wales only. Scotland does not use deed polls at all; it runs a separate name-recording system through National Records of Scotland, covered on our Scotland name change guide.

If you are changing your surname because you got married, formed a civil partnership, or are reverting to a previous name after a divorce, you may not need a deed poll at all. Your marriage, civil partnership or divorce paperwork can serve as the evidence document instead. See changing your name after marriage or divorce before you start a deed poll application.

Once you have your deed poll, whichever route you use, the next step is updating your name on official records. Our guide to changing your name on documents covers the passport, driving licence, HMRC, electoral register, DWP benefits and NHS record in turn.

What a Deed Poll Cannot Do

Your new name must be pronounceable, must not include symbols, numbers or punctuation (unless it is a hyphenated name or part of an established name such as O'Hara), and must not be offensive or against the public interest, gov.uk's example being adding "Ltd" to the end of a name.

There are also two things a deed poll can never do, regardless of which route you use. gov.uk states you cannot use a deed poll to change which letters are capitalised in your name, and you cannot use it to change a title, for example Mr, Mrs, Sir, Lady or Doctor. A deed poll changes your forename and surname; it is not a mechanism for adjusting capitalisation or acquiring or dropping an honorific.

The Unenrolled Deed Poll: Make Your Own

The unenrolled route is the one most people mean when they talk about a "free deed poll." You need to be 16 or over to make your own unenrolled deed poll. You draft and sign the deed yourself in front of two witnesses, who must each be 18 or over and who also sign it. gov.uk cautions that some organisations will not accept a witness who lives at the same address as you, or a close relative, so choose two independent adult witnesses if you can.

gov.uk publishes the operative wording of the deed itself. The core clause states that you have given up your old name and adopted for all purposes the name you have chosen, with space for your address and for your witnesses to sign and add their own addresses. You should not simply copy that wording out of a search result; use gov.uk's own published deed poll document as your starting point.

An unenrolled deed poll is usable immediately once it is signed and witnessed. gov.uk does not itself charge for this route, since you are drafting and signing the document yourself, so a DIY unenrolled deed poll can genuinely be free. If you instead use a solicitor or a specialist deed poll agency to prepare it for you, that solicitor or agency may charge its own fee; gov.uk's guidance flags this possibility without quoting a figure.

The Enrolled Deed Poll: Royal Courts of Justice

Enrolling a deed poll means having it recorded on the public court record. You need to be 18 or over to enrol an adult deed poll.

The fee is £53.05, not £48.32

As of August 2026, gov.uk states the enrolment fee is £53.05. This figure is corroborated on two separate gov.uk pages, the main deed poll overview and the enrol-with-the-courts guidance itself, both quoting the identical amount on the same access date. An older figure of £48.32 still circulates on other sites and in older search results. Treat £48.32 as stale: it is not what gov.uk currently shows, and HMCTS court fees are revised from time to time, so always check the current gov.uk page rather than relying on a figure you found elsewhere.

Forms and process

The enrolled route uses three named gov.uk forms:

• LOC020: Enrol a deed poll with the court to change your name.
• LOC021: Statutory declaration for changing your name by deed poll.
• LOC027: Exhibit cover sheet for changing your name by deed poll.

You apply online, and HMCTS emails you the three forms. You sign LOC020 in front of two witnesses, who also sign it. You then sign LOC021 and LOC027 in front of a solicitor or another authorised witness. You post the completed forms to the Deed Poll Office to be enrolled.

Publication in The Gazette, and the privacy caveat

An enrolled deed poll is a public record. gov.uk states that your name change and your address will be published in The Gazette. This is the default, not an optional extra, and the publication includes your home address alongside your old and new names unless you take a specific step to limit it.

If you have a strong reason why your details should not be published, you can explain that reason in your application, and a judge may agree to publish only your first name or surname rather than the full name change and address. Anyone who wants to become hard to trace, for example someone fleeing domestic abuse, should weigh this publication step carefully before choosing to enrol, since an unenrolled deed poll does not carry the same public Gazette record.

Timing

gov.uk itself manages expectations at "several weeks" for enrolment, and specifically says you can ask the Deed Poll Office for an update on your application 16 weeks after you apply. Do not expect a faster turnaround than that as a matter of course; plan around the possibility that it takes up to that long before you even get a status update.

gov.uk does not mention a fee-help or fee-remission route for the £53.05 enrolment fee itself on the pages that cover it, which is a different position from the £263 child court-order fee discussed below, where fee help is explicitly offered.

Which Organisations Accept Which Deed Poll?

gov.uk's own guidance is direct on this point for some sectors: "Some organisations (such as some banks, mobile phone companies or energy providers) may only accept an enrolled deed poll to change your name on their records. Contact the organisation to understand the deed poll they will accept as proof of your new name." So for those named sectors, an enrolled deed poll can genuinely be the only document some providers will act on.

HM Passport Office and DVLA are not named in that guidance. Neither agency's own pages state an enrolled-only rule: HM Passport Office's guidance accepts a deed poll, a statutory declaration or an affidavit without distinguishing enrolled from unenrolled, and DVLA's evidence list simply names "a deed poll" without qualification. The only reliable way to know which document any specific organisation wants, named by gov.uk or not, is to ask that organisation directly before you apply, rather than assuming one type of deed poll is accepted or refused everywhere.

Statutory Declarations and Deed Polls

Within the enrolled deed poll process itself, form LOC021 is a statutory declaration, sworn before a solicitor or another authorised witness, as one of the three documents that make up an enrolment application. On gov.uk's own pages, that is the only role a statutory declaration plays in the England and Wales deed poll process: a component of enrolment, not a separate route.

Separately, several organisations treat a statutory declaration as a standalone alternative to a deed poll in its own right. HM Passport Office's own guidance for a self-chosen name change states you can change your name on your passport with one of three documents: a deed poll, a statutory declaration, or an affidavit, sent together with proof of any previous name changes you have made and evidence you are using your new name, for example a payslip or a letter from your local council. DVLA's evidence list for a driving licence name change likewise names "a statutory declaration" as an independently acceptable document, alongside and equal to "a deed poll." Scotland's National Records of Scotland goes further still and confirms a standalone statutory declaration, sworn before a notary public or justice of the peace, as a genuine alternative route for people who were born outside Scotland. See changing your name on documents for the full, organisation-by-organisation evidence picture.

Changing a Child's Name by Deed Poll

Two routes exist for a child under 18. One is an unenrolled deed poll, arranged through a specialist deed poll agency or a solicitor rather than the child signing it themselves, since gov.uk's own unenrolled-route rules require the person making the deed to be 16 or over. The other is enrolling a deed poll with the High Court.

A 16 or 17 year old can make their own unenrolled deed poll directly, the same as an adult, without needing an agency or solicitor to act for them.

Consent

Enrolling a child's deed poll needs the agreement of everyone who holds parental responsibility for the child, or a court order. gov.uk's guidance is to try to reach an agreement before seeking a court order. Where a person with parental responsibility objects and no agreement can be reached, the route is a form C100 application for a specific issue order at the family court, with a fee of £263, a figure entirely separate from the £53.05 deed-poll enrolment fee described above; the two should never be confused. Unlike the deed-poll fee itself, gov.uk states you may be able to get help with the C100 court fee if you are on benefits or a low income.

If your child is 16 or 17, gov.uk requires a signed letter from them confirming they agree to the name change, alongside the parental-responsibility consent described above.

A married or civil-partnered 16 or 17 year old must enrol as an adult rather than going through the child process.

Publication rules are the same for a child's enrolled deed poll as for an adult's: it is published in The Gazette, with the same privacy carve-out available on request for a strong reason.

Registered Offenders Must Notify the Police

If you are a registered offender, it is a criminal offence not to tell the police that you have changed your name. gov.uk's guidance sets a 3-day window for that notification. This applies regardless of which deed poll route you use, and sits alongside, not instead of, whatever other notification duties apply to your specific registration.

Scotland and Northern Ireland Use Different Systems

England and Wales are the only nations where a deed poll is the standard mechanism. Scotland does not use deed polls; National Records of Scotland runs its own "record a change of name" service that updates a person's birth or adoption certificate directly, with its own eligibility rules, fees and timescales. Northern Ireland's primary route is registration with the General Register Office for Northern Ireland, with a deed poll offered only as a secondary option. See our Scotland and Northern Ireland name change guide for the detail on both.

This guide covers England and Wales as of August 2026, based on gov.uk's current deed poll guidance. It is general legal information, not legal advice on your specific situation. For Scotland and Northern Ireland, see our Scotland and Northern Ireland name change guide; for what to do once you have your deed poll, see changing your name on documents; and if your name change follows a marriage, civil partnership or divorce, see changing your name after marriage or divorce first, since you may not need a deed poll at all.