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Drafted by paralegals since 2000

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Stamps, seals and solicitors

Does a Deed Poll need a stamp or seal?

No. A Deed Poll needs no stamp, no red or wax seal and no solicitor’s stamp. Since the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, a deed made by a person is valid when it says it is a deed, is signed and witnessed, and is delivered. The only Deed Polls that carry a seal are enrolled ones, sealed by the court that records them.

What it does need Apply online – £18.50
  • No seal since 1989
  • No solicitor needed
  • Accepted, or your money back
A hand signing a green Deed Poll with a coral fountain pen, with a rubber stamp and a stick of red sealing wax pushed aside unused
What it does need

Signed, witnessed, delivered

Three things make a Deed Poll a deed, and you do all of them at one sitting at home. Nothing is added afterwards by anyone else.

Signed You sign in both names, in ink, and write in the date Witnessed Each witness watches, then signs and adds their name and address Delivered You mean it to bind you: nothing to post or hand over Not needed No stamp, no seal and no solicitor Signed You sign in both names, in ink, and write in the date Witnessed Each witness watches, then signs with name and address Delivered You mean it to bind you: nothing to post or hand over Not needed No stamp, no seal and no solicitor
What section 1 of the 1989 Act asks for, shown as it works on our Deed Poll.

Signed

On ours you sign twice, in the box beside “As a Deed by” in your new name and beside “Formerly” in your old one, and write in the date. HM Passport Office’s caseworker guidance asks for every signature to be made in ink. Where each one goes.

Witnessed

Witnessing means watching you sign and then signing to attest it, in person. Ours has space for two witnesses, and we recommend both: adults who are not related to you and do not live with you. Who can witness it.

Delivered

Not posting it anywhere. HM Land Registry’s guidance on deeds describes delivery as acknowledging, by words or conduct, that you intend to be bound. Ours prints “Signed and Delivered” above your signature boxes, so the deed itself says so. What every phrase on it means.

The law

What the 1989 Act changed

The Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, in section 1, did away with the old rule that a deed made by an individual had to be sealed, and any rule about what a deed may be written on. In its place it set the three steps above.

Since 2005 the Act has also said that a seal on its own does not show a document is meant to be a deed. The words on the page do that: a heading such as “Change of Name Deed”, or a line saying it is signed as a deed.

The Act applies in England and Wales. HM Passport Office, which issues passports across the UK, checks every unenrolled deed it is sent for signatures in both names, witnesses, ink and a date, and a stamp is not on that list.

Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, section 1(1)

“Any rule of law which… requires a seal for the valid execution of an instrument as a deed by an individual… is abolished.”

Stamps people expect

Seals, stamps and where each one belongs

Each of these is real, but none of them makes an ordinary Deed Poll valid. Here is where each one does belong.

  • Not needed

    A red or wax seal

    The 1989 Act did away with the seal for deeds made by individuals, and a seal by itself would not even show the paper is a deed. A Deed Poll without one is complete.

  • Not needed

    A solicitor’s stamp

    No solicitor has to draft, sign or stamp it, and under HM Passport Office’s own guidance your witness does not have to be one either, nor a commissioner for oaths. The only step on GOV.UK that needs a solicitor is enrolment, where two of the court’s forms are signed in front of one.

  • Only if enrolled

    The court’s seal

    When the High Court enrols a Deed Poll, its Deed Poll Office seals the deed and posts it back. Enrolment is optional, costs £53.05 and can take several months, according to GOV.UK.

    Do you need to enrol?
  • Only for use abroad

    An apostille

    GOV.UK calls an apostille a stamped official certificate, added when an official in another country asks for a UK document to be legalised. It costs £45 and is about using a document overseas, not whether it is valid here.

    Notaries and documents for abroad
Our Deed Poll drawn on a sheet of green paper, with the words Signed and Delivered above two empty signature boxes and no stamp or seal anywhere on it
Ours

Our Deed Poll, with nothing stamped on it

Ours arrives unstamped and unsealed, and needs nothing adding. It says it is a deed in its heading and in its closing words, it has boxes for your two signatures and space for two witnesses, and it is complete once you have all signed.

Every Deed Poll we draft is checked by quality control before it is printed, and if one of ours is ever refused, we refund you in full.

See ours, part by part
Questions & answers

Stamps and seals, answered

Does a Deed Poll need to be stamped?

No. No law asks for a stamp on a Deed Poll, and HM Passport Office’s caseworker guidance does not list one among the things it checks: signatures in both names, witnesses, ink and a date. A Deed Poll with no stamp on it is complete once it is signed and witnessed.

Does a Deed Poll need a red seal or a wax seal?

No. The Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 abolished the rule that a deed made by an individual had to be sealed. The only Deed Polls that carry a seal are enrolled ones, which the High Court’s Deed Poll Office seals before posting them back.

Does a solicitor have to stamp or sign my Deed Poll?

No. Your witness does not have to be one either: HM Passport Office’s guidance rules out any need for the witness to an unenrolled deed to be a solicitor or a commissioner for oaths. On GOV.UK, the only step involving a solicitor is enrolment with the High Court, where two of the court’s forms are signed in front of one.

What does “signed and delivered” mean on a Deed Poll?

Signed means you sign it, in both names on ours, while your witnesses watch. Delivered means you show you intend to be bound by it, which HM Land Registry’s guidance describes as acknowledging it by words or conduct. It does not mean posting the deed to anyone.

Will an organisation turn down a Deed Poll that has no stamp?

It has no reason to, because a stamp is not part of making a deed. If a Deed Poll we drafted is ever refused, we refund you in full.

Is a sealed, enrolled Deed Poll more valid?

No. Enrolment puts the change of name on public record, with a notice in The Gazette, and the court seals the deed to show it has been enrolled. It does not make the deed any more binding than an unenrolled one that has been signed and witnessed properly. Enrolment costs £53.05.

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

Keep reading

Related answers

Signing and witnessing itWitness rules, what each witness writes, and where to sign.Read this What is a notary public?When you need one, and when you do not.Read this What does a Deed Poll look like?Ours, part by part, with the certified copies and everything else in the envelope.Read this

No stamp, no solicitor, no waiting

Apply online in about five minutes. A paralegal drafts your Deed Poll, quality control checks it and it is posted the same working day, ready to sign with your witnesses and guaranteed to be accepted.

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