UK Deed Poll Office

Mojisola

antrobus wrote: »

Oh yes there is!

You can put your new name on public record by ‘enrolling’ it at the Royal Courts of Justice.
https://www.gov.uk/change-name-deed-poll/make-an-adult-deed-poll

It costs £102.60.

You can choose to do this but there is no legal necessity to go through this process.

Pricivius

My surname was changed when I was 7. Nothing official, not even a copy and paste letter and no permission from my absent parent, but that's another matter! We just started using a new surname - applied for my passport, enrolled at school and opened a bank account in the new name without a problem. Times may have changed but...

Decades later, I still have no difficulties at all despite having no official or unofficial bit of paper explaining my name change. I have a passport in my new name which refers to my old name as an AKA. My driving licence, bank accounts, qualifications and professional registration are all in the new name and I have been registered to vote since the age of 18 in my new name. I have bought and sold several properties in my new name, transferred large sums of money overseas and travelled extensively without difficulty. The only countries ever to question it in my passport were Russia and the UK, but both just shrugged and accepted my explanation. My birth certificate is obviously in my old name and I declare my old name whenever the question is asked.

It's sad that companies are taking advantage by charging for a bit of paper which you can create yourself if you find you need one. I will create my own if I ever need to but so far I haven't and there has never been any suggested that I need to do something official or through the Courts.