help with surname

nursenancy

I found this on a deed poll site:
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Q15: My name was changed when I was a child and I now want to revert to my birth name. Do I need to do this by Deed Poll?
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]A:[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1] Yes you do. Whether you want to change your name to a former name or a new name entirely, you will be required to provide "documentary evidence" of the change. A [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Deed Poll[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1] provides you with the necessary documentary evidence of your name change. After you have reverted to your birth name by Deed Poll, if you are ever asked to prove your identity you can produce your birth certificate alone. However, if you are asked if you have been known by any other name, you must declare your previous names and produce your Deed Poll document if required.[/SIZE][/FONT]

The website is http://www.ukdps.co.uk/WhatIsADeedPoll.html
They are very simple to do - my husband changed his name, and the whole process was quite simple. Just a case of sending copies to your banks, utilities, phone etc. There is a list on the site of who to contact.

Jeff121

I'm in a similar situation due to my Mother re-marrying. I believe that the proper way to notify your change of name in Scotland is to place a Notice in The Edinburgh Gazette [URL="mhtml:{AAA0630F-4EAC-466A-A19F-2FE3EFB80E19}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/"]http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/[/URL].

My Mother and Step father did this for me when I was 19 at the time I applied for a passport. My birth certificate was and still is in my Biological Fathers name and cannot be changed but Passport NI number and Driving license is in Step Fathers surname which I use. When I was 19 my parents went to a solicitor and asked if my Birth Certificate could be changed and they were told no it couldn't and that they would have needed to adopt me before I was 18. This prompted them into adopting my younger brother who was under the age of 18 and who also had by biological father surname on his birth certificate but that is now changed.

A solicitor advised my parents to place a notice in The Edinburgh Gazette basically saying that "I" using my proper birth surname would from this day forward be known as then using step fathers name.
I suppose its to let any debtors know who you are and that there is a change of name.

I have considered reverting back to my birth surname and spoken to someone in the Passport Office, they have my birth name on file and there is no problem changing my passport if I should want to.

Valli

nursenancy wrote: »

I found this on a deed poll site:
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Q15: My name was changed when I was a child and I now want to revert to my birth name. Do I need to do this by Deed Poll?
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]A:[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1] Yes you do. Whether you want to change your name to a former name or a new name entirely, you will be required to provide "documentary evidence" of the change. A [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Deed Poll[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1] provides you with the necessary documentary evidence of your name change. After you have reverted to your birth name by Deed Poll, if you are ever asked to prove your identity you can produce your birth certificate alone. However, if you are asked if you have been known by any other name, you must declare your previous names and produce your Deed Poll document if required.[/SIZE][/FONT]

The website is http://www.ukdps.co.uk/WhatIsADeedPoll.html
They are very simple to do - my husband changed his name, and the whole process was quite simple. Just a case of sending copies to your banks, utilities, phone etc. There is a list on the site of who to contact.

yes but they are offereing a service for which there will be a charge...
The answer to
Do I need to do this by deed poll?
should be
No, although it is one way to change your name and obtain evidence of that name change.

Strapped

Valli wrote: »

yes but they are offereing a service for which there will be a charge...
The answer to
Do I need to do this by deed poll?
should be
No, although it is one way to change your name and obtain evidence of that name change.

:TTotally agree. I have a big problem with that site.

Strapped

Jeff121 wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation due to my Mother re-marrying. I believe that the proper way to notify your change of name in Scotland is to place a Notice in The Edinburgh Gazette [URL="mhtml:{AAA0630F-4EAC-466A-A19F-2FE3EFB80E19}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/"]http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/[/URL].

My Mother and Step father did this for me when I was 19 at the time I applied for a passport. My birth certificate was and still is in my Biological Fathers name and cannot be changed but Passport NI number and Driving license is in Step Fathers surname which I use. When I was 19 my parents went to a solicitor and asked if my Birth Certificate could be changed and they were told no it couldn't and that they would have needed to adopt me before I was 18. This prompted them into adopting my younger brother who was under the age of 18 and who also had by biological father surname on his birth certificate but that is now changed.

A solicitor advised my parents to place a notice in The Edinburgh Gazette basically saying that "I" using my proper birth surname would from this day forward be known as then using step fathers name.
I suppose its to let any debtors know who you are and that there is a change of name.

I have considered reverting back to my birth surname and spoken to someone in the Passport Office, they have my birth name on file and there is no problem changing my passport if I should want to.

Just to clarify - with adoption the original birth certificate isn't changed; you get an adoption certificate which replaces a birth certificate.

queen_vi

my name was changed to my stepfathers when my mother remarried,i had national insurance number in that name everyone new me by it. when i was getting married i had to get married in my own father name (so meet my husband with one name married him another) when i had my nation insurance changed they had to investigate it as birth certicate and married lincence were different to nation insurance name
hope this helps

Hannah_10

You don't actually need a deed poll under English law.

It's honestly as simple as this, you write a letter to each organisation you have contact with stating that from todays date you wish to cease to be known as Ms Smith entirely and as of now your name shall be Ms Jones for all purposes, could they please update thier records immediately.

If you send it to your bank and everyone else with a record on you (even down to your Tesco Clubcard) and that is every bit as legal as a deed poll and doesn't cost anything. You may find people (especially lay people rather than passport agencies or whoever) query it, but you just issue them a copy of the letter too.

I changed my name back to my name at birth and it has never been a huge issue. The CAB had an excellent template letter for changing your name when I did it some years ago and I found even handwriting the letters out one at a time it took me one day and a book or two of second class stamps to get them all in the post and then it was done- I was called my right name again. They also had another template letter for if companies query it (it's always the irrelevant ones too, never the important ones like passport agencies). You may at some time be asked for proof that your name has changed, but I've never had a problem in just supplying the same copy of the same letter I sent everyone else at the time. If you're writing to yoru Dr and your bank anyway the change of the name on your bank statements and your NHS records then becomes its own official proof you changed it.

The important part as far as the law stands is that you entirely give up your old name, so you'll have to get hold of the National Insurance people (contact through the local tax office) and whoever else has still got you down for the wrong name and get them a copy of your letter too.

It is legal to just change it though, to anything you want to (within reason), whenever you want to, and there is nothing to say you need a deed poll or any kind of official document to do that, you can do it by means of letter. Most people changing thier name will go for a deed poll because the formality of it seems a neat and tidy way to round things up to most, but it's not strictly neccessary, you can if you prefer it- there will be a fee.

However if you wanna do it quickly (in your shoes I thnk I'd want the man I hated's name off my back ASAP) and without the wait for the neat and tidy route of Deed Poll you cna just write the same letter to everyone. The CAB ought to be able to get you on the right track in one appointment and if you have a printer you should be able to fire off enough copies of the letter to each relevant person and get them in the post in a coupe of hours. Astonishingly it really is that simple.

Hannah_10

Taking out an advert in the newspaper is a recognised and long standing way of declaring your name change to all too, not just in Scotland but also in England.

As this also involves then writing to every creditor you have too, you might chose to skip this part also. It's only really a kind of proof, but as I said the letter itself becomes its own proof.

clairelouise2222

I don't need to change anything over except my national insurance coz I have a bank account & bills & I.d in proper surname so was hoping I wouldent need to put a previous surname on forms etc, I don't want to be associated with my step dads surname, oh & I'd need to change surname on electrol list but don't no how to do it, does your new name & previous name link to one coz I have 2 credit reports & one of them has 2ccjs on & I don't want them on my birth farthers surname that I want to use, I live in England, thanks for everyones replys

annie-c

When you apply for a credit report with Experian or Equifax, you are asked if you have ever been known by any other name. This also happens for some credit applications. How have you answered this question in the past? Is it possible that you have alread (perhaps unknowingly) committed fraud by not declaring full information about yourself? If you deliberately falsify this information and are found out then you could get a 'fraud' query on your credit file.

It seems very unlikely that changing your name will dissociate you from your debt and personally, I'd be very careful if I were you. CCJs are not great but they are not uncommon these days. A CCJ will drop off your credit file after 6 years; after as few as 3 years many banks etc will disregard a settled CCJ for the purposes of credit scoring if the rest of your report is healthy. It may seem a long time but it does become history if you leave it. Assuming it is already old, the clock is ticking on it anyway. A fraud marking on your credit history would be far worse in my mind in terms of future credit applications and it could lead to serious problems.

I don't have any real experience of changing my name though so I don't know for sure. But, if your main motivation is simply to get your birth name back, then why not just go ahead and see what happens in respect of your debt. If you have been honest so far and are absolutely honest in future in declaring your former name when asked, and if by chance your old CCJs do not come back to haunt you, well consider it a bonus. If not, well fair enough - your main motivation was to get a name change for its own sake and you'll just have to accept the CCJ stays a while longer.