Help and advice
Deed Poll help and guides
All 55 of our guides to changing your name by Deed Poll, on one page and in the order you will need them: before you order, signing it, DVLA and your car, passports and records, and replacing a lost one. Each guide answers its question in the first few lines, with the detail underneath.
- Checked against GOV.UK in October 2026
- Questions answered by a paralegal
Before you start 11
- What is a Deed Poll?The document itself, what it says and what makes it binding.
- How to change your nameThe whole process end to end, from deciding to telling everyone.
- Who can change their nameAge, residence and the few situations that need extra care.
- What you may change it toThe handful of names that get refused, and why.
- Changing your name by Deed PollWhat actually happens, step by step, with nothing left out.
- Change your name by Deed PollWhen you need a Deed Poll, and when GOV.UK says you do not.
- What does a Deed Poll look like?Ours, part by part, with the certified copies and everything else in the envelope.
- Does a Deed Poll need a stamp or seal?No stamp, seal or solicitor: signed, witnessed and delivered is enough.
- Does a Deed Poll have a serial number?No national number or register, and where the reference sits on ours.
- A Deed Poll at 16 or 17Order the Adult Deed Poll and sign it yourself; no parent has to agree.
- What the words on a Deed Poll meanEvery legal phrase on our deed in plain English, and why it is there.
Ordering and delivery 6
- What a Deed Poll costs£18.50, plus delivery from £2.99, and the optional extras.
- Discount codes and offersWhy no code is needed, how offers reach customers, and the cheaper routes.
- Same-day and next-day Deed PollsPosted the day you order, and which post can reach you the next working day.
- Where's my Deed Poll?Posted the day you order: the emails that follow, tracking, and what to do if it is late.
- Deed Poll near me?No office to visit: ordered online, posted to you, signed with a witness nearby.
- Ordering a Deed Poll from abroadWho can use ours while away, international delivery and signing abroad.
Signing and using it 8
- Signing and witnessing itWitness rules, what each witness writes, and where to sign.
- What documents you needWhat we need from you, and what you will be asked for afterwards.
- How long it takes to arrivePosted the same working day, then 1 to 5 working days.
- Do you have to register it?Enrolment at court: what it does, what it costs, and who needs it.
- Who to tellEveryone who holds your records, in the order worth doing them.
- What is a notary public?When you need one, and when you do not.
- Finding a witnessWho can witness it, where people find one, and why no one can do it by video.
- Where to sign your Deed PollPractise on ours: both your names, the date, then each witness, in order.
Driving and your vehicle 19
- Changing your driving licenceForm D1 by post, free and never online, plus Northern Ireland.
- Licence after marriageNo Deed Poll needed: form D1 and your certificate, free, by post.
- Licence after divorceYour divorce papers or a Deed Poll, on form D1, free and by post.
- Your V5C log bookSection 3, by post, usually free: what to send and the £1,000 fine.
- How long DVLA takes to change your nameUsually 3 weeks by post, chase after 4, and keep driving meanwhile.
- What DVLA accepts as proof of a new nameAn unenrolled Deed Poll, the original only, with one document in your new name.
- Changing the name on a provisional licenceForm D1 by post, free, and what to do about a test already booked.
- Your name on a private number plateOn a car, the V5C; on a V750 or V778, a letter and a copy of your Deed Poll.
- Your car after a name changeEverything a driver updates, in order, with a tick list that remembers your place.
- Lorry, bus, coach and taxi driversYour driver CPC card, tachograph card and taxi licence after a change of name.
- Form D1 for a change of nameWhere to get the pack, how to fill it in for a new name, and where it goes.
- Your name and address togetherOne form D1 changes both; the online service can only change the address.
- Licence or passport first?Either order works: how to do both with one original Deed Poll.
- A new photo with your new name?Usually not needed: when DVLA keeps your photo, and when it asks for one.
- Lost licence and a new nameOne form replaces the licence and changes the name at the same time.
- Name spelt wrong on your licenceA DVLA mistake is put right by letter; a spelling you use instead is a change of name.
- Paper licence and a new nameA change of name moves you onto a photocard: what it needs and costs.
- Does your licence number change?Yes for a new surname or first names: which characters change, and who needs the new number.
- Do you have to change your licence?Only once your name has changed, then straight away: the duty, the fine and keeping your name.
Passports and other records 3
Lost, copies and replacements 5
- Replacing a Deed Poll certificateLost, damaged or never returned: how a replacement works.
- Getting a copy of your Deed PollCertified copies from £6 for two, and who accepts them.
- I have lost my Deed PollWhat to do first, and why you do not change your name again.
- A replacement from GOV.UK?What the government keeps, what its free wording can do, and copies of enrolled deeds.
- Keeping your Deed Poll safeStoring the original, why it never expires, where records are kept, and SafeKeep.
About us 3
No guide matches that yet. Ask a paralegal and we will answer, usually the same working day.
Not here? Ask us
Our paralegals answer questions before and after you order, by email, usually the same working day. There is no telephone line.
Ready to change your name?
Apply online in about five minutes. Your Deed Poll is hand-drafted by a paralegal, checked and posted the same working day, and guaranteed to be accepted.
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