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?
Are there any restrictions on names?
Is a Deed Poll registered anywhere?
Can a birth certificate be changed?
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

General 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 transsexuals
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

UK Deed Poll Service
Contact us
What our clients say about us
In the media
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions and your rights
Home page

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?
Are there any restrictions on names?
Is a Deed Poll registered anywhere?
Can a birth certificate be changed?
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

General 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 transsexuals
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

UK Deed Poll Service
Contact us
What our clients say about us
In the media
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions and your rights
Home page

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?
Are there any restrictions on names?
Is a Deed Poll registered anywhere?
Can a birth certificate be changed?
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

General 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 transsexuals
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

UK Deed Poll Service
Contact us
What our clients say about us
In the media
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions and your rights
Home page

For quick access, we have listed this article's contents below.  However, you will need to refer to sections 1 to 4 to calculate the fees payable for your application.  Please check our fee reductions in case you qualify for a saving.

All fees include taxes and our Deed Poll fees include our UK Standard delivery service.

1.  Types of Deed Poll available and fees The fees below are if you apply online, by post or in person.  If you order over the phone, the fees are £4 higher for each Deed Poll ordered.

Adult and Child Deed Polls Adult Child    The fee for one Deed Poll is: £33 £35    Deed Polls for other adults and children:    The fee for a 2nd Deed Poll is: £23 £25    The fee for a 3rd Deed Poll is: £18 £20    The fee for any additional Deed Polls is (each): £13 £15 Examples:    One adult:  £33    Two adults:  £33 + £23 = £56    One adult and one child:  £33 + £25 = £58    Three children:  £35 + £25 + £20 = £80 See section 7 below for further examples. [how to apply] 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.

Family Deed Poll A Family Deed Poll is for changing the surname of a family (family means at least one parent and one child under 16 years of age).  With a family Deed Poll, children under the age of 16 are included on the applicant parent's Deed Poll document.  Note: the applicant parent and spouse (or partner) included on a Family Deed Poll application can also change their first and middle names (and title if required) but any children included who are under 16 can only change their surname to the new family surname.  You will need to apply for a separate Child Deed Poll if you wish to change a child's first and/or middle names.  If any of your children are 16 years of age or over, you will need to apply for a separate Adult Deed Poll for them.    Fee for applicant parent's Deed Poll £33    For each child (under 16) added to applicant       parent's Deed Poll £8     Additional Deed Poll for spouse, partner or a       son/daughter who is 16 or over £23     Additional Deed Poll for a child (who is under 16)       whose forenames are also being changed £25 Examples:     Parent with two children:  £33 + £8 + £8 = £49     Both parents with two children:  £33 + £8 + £8 + £23 = £72     One parent with two children under 16 but one child is also having their       forenames changed:  £33 + £8 + £25 = £66 See section 7 below for further examples (examples 14, 15 and 16). [how to apply]

Family versus separate Child and Adult Deed Polls If you are undecided as to whether to apply for a Family Deed Poll or for separate Adult and Child Deed Polls, please click here for further information.

2.  Fee reductions available

If you are in receipt of a qualifying benefit You can claim a £10 fee reduction on the total value of your order if you receive any of the following benefits: - Income Support. - Income related Employment & Support Allowance. - Pension Credit. - Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. - Working Tax Credit. - Child Tax Credit (if your household income is less than £15,000 pa). - If you are applying for an Adult Deed Poll and someone receives Child Benefit for you. This fee reduction is only available if you send us recent written evidence of your benefit entitlement. Please note, this fee reduction cannot be claimed in addition to the previous client reduction.

If you are a previous client If you have changed your name with us before, you can claim an £10 fee reduction on the total value of your order. Please note, you cannot claim a fee reduction for a qualifying benefit in addition to this fee reduction.

To claim a fee reduction as a previous client or if you are receiving a qualifying benefit, you must complete the appropriate section on the application form.

3.  Delivery services available You can choose from the following delivery services when you complete your application form.  Delivery times given are from receipt of your application and payment (and letter of consent if required for changing a child's name). The fees shown are per order.  For example, if you order two Deed Polls using our UK Priority service, the total delivery fee will be £4 and not £4 for each Deed Poll.

UK Standard We aim to post your Deed Poll documentation by 1st class mail within four working days of receiving your application.  This service is free i.e. it is included in the fee for your Deed Poll.

UK Priority We will post your Deed Poll documentation by 1st class mail the same working day we receive your application.  This fee for this service is £4.

UK Express We will post your Deed Poll documentation the same working day we receive your application for guaranteed delivery by 1pm next working day.  The fee for this service is £10.

UK Express Plus We will post your Deed Poll documentation the same working day we receive your application for guaranteed delivery by 9am next working day.  The fee for this service is £18.

UK Premium One-hour This service is for callers to our offices.  We aim to issue your Deed Poll documentation within one hour.  The fee for this service is £25 and is available between 9am and 6pm Monday to Friday (closed bank holidays) and between 9am and midday Saturday.

Overseas Standard We aim to post your Deed Poll documentation using Royal Mail's International Signed-For service, which is an accelerated airmail service, within four working days of receiving your application.  The fee for this service is £5.

Overseas Express We will post your Deed Poll documentation using Royal Mail's International Signed-For service, which is an accelerated airmail service, the same working day we receive your application.  The fee for this service is £10.

Overseas Express Courier We will post your Deed Poll documentation using FedEx's International Priority service for delivery within two to three working days (next day to the US and Canada).  The fee for this service is £10 plus FedEx's shipping fees.  Click here for further information and FedEx's fees.

Please note, if you pay by cheque, we must allow five working days for your cheque to clear before we can post your Deed Poll documentation.

4.  Other services available You can order the following services on the application forms.

Legal Copy and Archive Service When you notify everyone of your change of name, organisations such as the Passport Office, DVLA, Land Registry and the financial institutions will not accept seeing a photocopy of your Deed Poll document. Our legal copies (also known as certified copies) will be accepted by these organisations instead of your original Deed Poll, thus avoiding your original Deed Poll document being folded and creased or even lost in the post. As part of this service, we lodge a digital image of your signed Deed Poll document in our archives so you can order further legal copies in the future should you lose or mislay your Deed Poll. If you do not order this service and you lose your Deed Poll, you will have to pay again for a new Deed Poll. The fee for our legal copy and archive service is £13 plus £1 for each legal copy ordered (two legal copies minimum).  If your delivery address is outside the UK, a further £5 will be charged for return overseas postage of your Deed Poll and legal copies.

Declaration for a change of title If you are applying for an Adult Deed Poll and also wish to change your title e.g. from Mrs to Miss, we can incorporate a change of title declaration on your Deed Poll document, for which a £4 fee is payable. If you do not wish to incur the £4 fee, please enter on your application form the same title as your current title and your new title.  We will only include your title on your Deed Poll if you are changing it.  Therefore, by not entering a change of title on your application form, we will issue your Deed Poll with only your name change shown.

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, for which an additional fee of £2 is payable.

Declaration for a past name change If you are applying for an Adult Deed Poll to provide you with a replacement to a lost Deed Poll or you require documentary evidence of a past name change (for example, your name was changed by usage when you were a child), we can modify your Deed Poll to include a declaration that states you have been using your current name for all purposes since a particular date.  This declaration explains to those you show your Deed Poll to that it is not for a new name change. If you would like this modification made, for which an additional £4 fee is payable, please complete the appropriate section on the application form.

Modifications to your Deed Poll If you require your Deed Poll to be modified to include an "also known as name", a "registered at birth name" or a "formerly known as name", an £8 fee is payable for each modification made.  If you require a modification, please use the comments box on the application form.

Legalisation Service If you have been told by an overseas authority that your Deed Poll needs to be legalised with an Apostille, we can arrange this with the UK government's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Our fee is £50, which includes all legalisation fees.  If delivery is to an overseas address and you do not also order our Legal Copy and Archive Service, an additional fee of £6 is payable for the return of your legalised Deed Poll. If you require additional documents to be legalised at the same time, the fee is £35 for each additional document. If your Deed Poll needs to be legalised, please request our legalisation service using the comments box on the application form.  Full instructions will be enclosed with your Deed Poll documentation.

5.  Manual card authorisation fee (only applicable if you are applying using our Priority or Express delivery services)

If you are applying for your Deed Poll using our Priority or Express delivery services and we are unable to obtain confirmation of your statement address when processing your payment electronically using our card terminal, we will need to call our Merchant Card Services provider (Streamline) who will call your card issuing bank for verbal confirmation.  This results in us being charged a fee that will be passed on to you, which is currently £4. Please note, with the exception of cards issued by HSBC Bank, confirmation of your statement address for cards issued by UK banks is usually obtained electronically so it is unlikely you will incur the manual card authorisation fee (American Express card holders very rarely incur this fee).  However, verbal statement address confirmation for cards issued by banks in Australia, Spain and France is not possible due to Data Protection regulations in these countries.

6.  Methods of payment

You can pay by cheque or postal order, or by debit or credit card.  If you choose to pay by card, we accept Mastercard, Visa, Visa Debit, Visa Electron, Maestro, Switch and American Express. For Adult Deed Poll applications made online, you can also pay by PayPal.

7.  Examples of fees payable Listed below are many examples to help you understand our fee structure and to calculate the fees payable for your order.  The Deed Poll fees shown are if you apply online, by post or in person.  If you apply by phone, the fees are £4 higher for each Deed Poll ordered.

Example 1 Adult Deed Poll with qualifying benefit reduction:   Adult Deed Poll Less qualifying benefit reduction 33 -10     TOTAL £23

Example 2 Child Deed Poll with qualifying benefit reduction:   Child Deed Poll Less qualifying benefit reduction 35 -10     TOTAL £25

Example 3 Adult Deed Poll and a Child Deed Poll with qualifying benefit reduction:   Adult Deed Poll Child Deed Poll Less qualifying benefit reduction 33 25 -10 (reduced by £10)   TOTAL £48     Only one qualifying benefit reduction is allowed because the second Deed Poll receives a £10 reduction.

Example 4 Adult Deed Poll and two Child Deed Polls:   Adult Deed Poll 1st Child Deed Poll 2nd Child Deed Poll 33 25 20 (reduced by £10) (further reduced by £5)   TOTAL £78

Example 5 Three Adult Deed Polls:   1st Adult Deed Poll 2nd Adult Deed Poll 3rd Adult Deed Poll 33 23 18 (reduced by £10) (further reduced by £5)   TOTAL £76

Example 6 Adult Deed Poll with change of title declaration:   Adult Deed Poll Change of title declaration 33 4 (e.g. from Mrs to Miss)   TOTAL £37

Example 7 Adult Deed Poll with two legal copies:   Adult Deed Poll Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each 33 13 2     TOTAL £48

Example 8 Adult Deed Poll with Priority delivery service and two legal copies:   Adult Deed Poll Priority service Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each 33 4 13 2 (processed & posted same day)   TOTAL £52

Example 9 Two Adult Deed Polls with Priority delivery service:   1st Adult Deed Poll 2nd Adult Deed Poll Priority service 33 23 4 (reduced by £10) (processed & posted same day)   TOTAL £60

Example 10 Two Adult Deed Polls both with two legal copies:   1st Adult Deed Poll Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each 33 13 2     2nd Adult Deed Poll Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each 23 13 2 (reduced by £10)   TOTAL £86

Example 11 Adult Deed Poll with Overseas Express delivery service and two legal copies:   Adult Deed Poll Express Overseas postage Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each Return postage for legal copies 33 10 13 2 5 (processed & posted same day)     TOTAL £63     The return overseas postage is to pay for the return of your Deed Poll and Legal Copies (you need to return your signed Deed Poll to us to be able to obtain your Legal Copies).

Example 12 Adult Deed Poll with Overseas Express Courier delivery service (using FedEx) and two legal copies:   Adult Deed Poll Express processing fee FedEx shipping fee Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each Return overseas postage 33 10 35 13 2 5  (processed & shipped same day)  (current fee to USA and Canada)     TOTAL £98

Example 13 Adult Deed Poll and a Child Deed Poll, both with two legal copies and qualifying benefit reduction:   Adult Deed Poll Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each Less qualifying benefit reduction 33 13 2 -10     Child Deed Poll Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each 25 13 2 (reduced by £10)   TOTAL £78

Example 14 Family Deed Poll (a parent with two children under 16) and qualifying benefit reduction:   Deed Poll for parent 2 children added @ £8 each Less qualifying benefit reduction 33 16 -10     TOTAL £39

Example 15 Family Deed Poll (a parent with two children under 16) with two legal copies and qualifying benefit reduction:   Deed Poll for parent 2 children added @ £8 each Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each Less qualifying benefit reduction 33 16 13 2 -10     TOTAL £54

Example 16 Family Deed Poll (a parent and spouse with two children under 16 and a child over 16) with two legal copies of each Deed Poll:   Adult Deed Poll (for parent) 2 children added @ £8 each Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each 33 16 13 2     Adult Deed Poll (for spouse) Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each 23 13 2 (reduced by £10)   Adult Deed Poll (for child over 16) Legal copy and archive service   with 2 legal copies @ £1 each 18 13 2 (further reduced by £5)   TOTAL £135

To start the application process, please click on the link for your preferred method of applying:

• Apply online (using our secure server)
• Apply by telephone (apply and pay over the phone)
• Apply by post (request a postal application pack)
• Apply in person (visit our offices)