Guaranteed acceptance or your money backDispatched the same working dayAccepted by HM Passport Office, DVLA & HMRC

Drafted by paralegals since 2000

Apply online – £18.50

Copies of your deed

Getting a copy of your Deed Poll

You order certified copies of your Deed Poll at our checkout, alongside a new or replacement deed: two cost £6 and twenty cost £25. Many organisations accept one in place of the original, but the DVLA and HM Passport Office want the deed itself, and a photocopy is not taken as evidence.

Apply online – £18.50 Copy prices
  • Accepted by many organisations
  • From £6 for two
  • Posted with your deed
Certified copy

Deed Poll

Change of name deed

Former nameAlex Example
New nameAlex Sample
Dated14 March 2009

Certified by

Signed and dated by a paralegal

Certifieda true copy of the original

The short answers

Can I order a copy of my Deed Poll?

Yes. Copies are certified against a deed we draft, so you add them to a new Deed Poll or a replacement at the checkout. If we drafted yours, ask a paralegal about more.

What is a certified copy?

A copy of your deed on the same certificate paper, signed and dated by a paralegal to confirm it is a true copy.

Will the DVLA accept a certified copy?

No. GOV.UK says to send the DVLA original documents that confirm your new name, and its identity rules exclude certified copies. Send the deed itself.

What if I have lost the original?

Then nobody holds a copy to send you, GOV.UK included. Order a replacement and add your copies to it. Why GOV.UK cannot reissue one.

The three things people mean

Photocopy, certified copy or replacement

If you still hold your Deed Poll and need to send proof to several places, certified copies are what you want. If you cannot find it at all, there is nothing left to copy.

Not evidence

A photocopy

A machine copy you make yourself. A phone scan, a photograph or a PDF printout is the same thing.

Accepted
Almost nowhere
Right for
Your own records
Cost
Free, and no use as proof
Accepted by many organisations

A certified copy

Signed and dated by a paralegal as a true copy of your Deed Poll. Many organisations treat it as they would the deed itself.

Accepted
By many in place of the original; not by HM Passport Office or the DVLA
Right for
Telling everyone else at once, while the original is with HM Passport Office or the DVLA
Cost
£6 for two, up to £25 for twenty
A new original

A replacement

A fresh deed recording the same change of name on the same date. It is not a copy of anything.

Accepted
As the original was
Right for
When the original is lost or unreadable
Cost
£18.50, adult or child

How ours are made. Drafted alongside your Deed Poll by the paralegal who drafts the deed, printed on the same certificate paper, and certified by hand. They are not photocopies run off the finished document. See what they look like.

What copies cost

Certified copies, priced in bands

You choose the number at the checkout and pay the price of the band it falls in, so six copies cost the same as three. The prices are the same whether you order an adult, child or replacement Deed Poll.

  1. Choose your Deed Poll. A new adult or child deed, or a replacement for one you already hold.
  2. Pick the number of copies at the checkout, on the same order.
  3. They arrive with your deed, drafted by the same paralegal, certified by hand and posted the working day you order.
Apply online – £18.50 A replacement with copies
Certified copy prices at the checkout
CopiesPrice
Up to 2£6
3 to 6£10
7 to 10£15
11 to 15£20
16 to 20£25

Twenty copies work out at £1.25 each. Need more than twenty? Ask a paralegal.

Why a photocopy will not do

Anyone can copy anything

A photocopy shows only what was on the copier glass, and a page can be changed before it is copied. That is why record holders rarely take one as evidence of a change of name.

A PDF emailed by whoever drafted your deed is no better once printed. Organisations want the original, signed in ink, or a copy someone qualified has certified as true.

How many to order

The number that keep what you send

Not the number of organisations you tell. Some look at your deed and hand it back; others keep what you send, and each of those uses up a copy. Ordering enough at once means going round once.

How many certified copies will you need?

A certified copy is one we draft and certify alongside your Deed Poll, so you can deal with several organisations at once instead of one after another. Tick what you have, and say how many of each: two banks needs two copies. These are the 14 that normally keep what you send. HM Passport Office and the DVLA ask for the original itself, and most other places look at it and hand it back.

Money

Home and property

Work, health and study

Getting copies

Which route gets you copies

It depends on where your Deed Poll came from, and whether you still have it.

  • Add them at the checkout

    You are ordering a Deed Poll now

    Choose how many at the checkout. They are drafted alongside your deed by the same paralegal, and posted with it the same working day.

  • A replacement with copies

    Your deed came from somewhere else

    Our copies are certified against the deed we draft, so the way to a set from us is a replacement with copies added. It carries the same two names and the same original date as the deed you hold.

    The replacement service
  • Ask a solicitor

    You would rather keep only the deed you have

    A solicitor or a notary public can certify copies of the deed you hold, and will charge for doing so.

    What a notary public does
  • A copy cannot help

    The original is lost or unreadable

    Nobody can certify a copy of a document nobody has. What you need is a replacement, and it is not a second change of name.

    If you have lost your Deed Poll
Questions & answers

About certified copies

Will organisations take a certified copy instead of my Deed Poll?

Many will, in place of the original. The exceptions are HM Passport Office and the DVLA, which both want the deed itself. So while the original is with one of them, certified copies can go to everyone else at the same time.

Will the DVLA accept a certified copy of my Deed Poll?

No. GOV.UK asks you to send the DVLA original documents that confirm your new name, not photocopies, and the DVLA’s identity guidance says certified copies cannot be used, including ones certified by the Post Office. Send the Deed Poll itself. Changing your driving licence.

Does HM Passport Office accept a certified copy?

No. Its caseworker guidance asks for an original or a replacement document, and the only certified copies it lists are ones issued by the General Register Office. Send your Deed Poll itself.

Can I order copies without a new Deed Poll?

Not at the checkout. Our copies are certified against a deed we draft, so they are added to a new Deed Poll or to a replacement for the one you hold, which carries the same two names and the original date. If we drafted yours, ask a paralegal about adding more copies to your order.

Will I get my certified copies back?

From some organisations, yes. Others keep the copy on file, and our checklist marks the ones that usually do. Open the who-to-tell checklist.

Something else? Ask a paralegal and we will answer, usually the same working day.

Keep reading

Related answers

Replacing a Deed Poll certificateLost, damaged or never returned: how a replacement works.Read this A replacement from GOV.UK?What the government keeps, what its free wording can do, and copies of enrolled deeds.Read this Who to tellEveryone who holds your records, in the order worth doing them.Read this

Ready to order with copies?

Apply online in about five minutes and pick how many certified copies you want at the checkout. Your deed and copies are drafted, checked and posted together the same working day.

Apply online – £18.50 Ask a paralegal

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