Our Deed Poll, close up
What does a Deed Poll look like?
A Deed Poll is a single A4 page headed “Change of Name Deed”. Ours is printed on green certificate paper with your old and new names, your address, three numbered declarations, a blank for the date, two boxes where you sign in each name, and space for two witnesses at the foot. It carries no stamp or seal, and it becomes your evidence once you and your witnesses have signed it.
- One A4 page
- Certified copies to match
- Accepted, or your money back
Our Deed Poll at a glance
- Size
- One A4 page
- Paper
- Green certificate paper
- Heading
- Change of Name Deed
- You sign
- Twice: new name and old
- Witnesses
- Space for two, at the foot
- Stamp or seal
- None, and none needed
Our Deed Poll, part by part
Every adult Deed Poll we draft follows this layout and wording; your names, your address and the reference are what change. The drawing shows the text as ruled lines, and the numbers match the list.
The order reference
Printed small in the top right corner, and the same reference as your order confirmation email. Quote it whenever you write to us. It is ours, not a government number. What the reference is for.
“Change of Name Deed”
The heading. A deed has to make plain on its face that it is one, and this heading, with the words “By this Deed” that open the text, does exactly that.
Your names and address
The opening paragraph, drawn here as one line: your old name, your address and your new name, each in capitals with your title, and whether you are a citizen by birth or a resident. Read it letter by letter before anyone signs. What each phrase means.
Three declarations
Numbered 1 to 3, they are the change itself: you give up your old name, you will use and sign the new one in every record and dealing, and you ask everyone to address you by it. What each one means.
The date you sign
The closing paragraph begins “In Witness”, repeats both names and leaves the date blank. You write in the day you sign, and that is the day your name changes.
“Signed and Delivered”
The words that make your signing the making of a deed. No stamp, seal or solicitor comes into it. Why no stamp is needed.
Signed in your new name
The box beside “As a Deed by”, with your new name printed beneath it. Sign here as you will from now on.
Signed in your old name
The box beside “Formerly”, with your old name printed beneath. Both signatures go on in ink while your witnesses watch. Rehearse the signing.
Your two witnesses
The ruled spaces at the foot of the page. Each witness watches you sign, then signs and adds their name, address and occupation. We recommend using both: adults who are not related to you and do not live with you. Who can witness it.
What the certified copies look like
Each certified copy is your deed again: the same wording and the same reference, printed on the same green paper and certified by hand as a true copy. You sign every one, and so do your witnesses, at the same sitting and with the same date as the deed.
Many organisations take a certified copy in place of the original, so the deed itself can stay at home. HM Passport Office and DVLA each ask for the original.
- £6 for two, up to £25 for twenty
- Added at the checkout and posted with your deed
What else comes in the envelope
One envelope brings everything, posted the working day you order. What is inside depends on what you chose at the checkout.
- Always
Your Deed Poll
On green certificate paper, ready to sign with your witnesses.
- If you added them
Certified copies
Green like the deed, with the same wording and reference, to sign at the same sitting.
- Always
An order letter
On white paper and addressed to you: it lists what is in the envelope, the post you chose and your reference, with SafeKeep if you added it, and our guarantee.
- If your order includes them
Cover letters
On white paper: a letter telling an organisation about your change of name, with both names and your reference, for you to date, sign and send with your deed or a copy.
- If you chose it
A board-backed envelope
A stiff envelope for £1.99 that keeps the paper flat on its way to you.
- By email instead
Your guides
How to sign it and who to tell arrive by email shortly after you order, so you can read them before the post comes.
Nothing comes as a file to print. A Deed Poll only counts once it carries ink signatures, so the paper itself is what we post. Waiting for yours? Where your Deed Poll has got to.
How it is signed matters more than how it looks
There is no official design to match. HM Passport Office’s caseworker guidance says an unenrolled deed has “no set format or wording”, and checks instead that it is signed in both the old and new names, witnessed, signed in ink and dated.
That is why our layout puts the date, your two signature boxes and the witness spaces on the one page, so nothing that guidance looks for can go missing.
Writing your own instead? The Deed Polls Online handbook, our sister site, sets out the wording any Deed Poll needs, whoever drafts it.
The day it arrives, before anyone signs
- Read both names, letter by letterYour title too, and the address in the opening paragraph.
- Gather your two witnessesSign the deed and every certified copy at one sitting, with the same date on each.
- Something not right?Email support@deedpolls.org with your order reference before anyone picks up a pen.
- Signed and witnessedIt is your evidence from that moment, with nothing to send back to us.
What a Deed Poll looks like, answered
What does a Deed Poll look like in the UK?
Usually one page of formal wording headed Change of Name Deed or Deed Poll: your old and new names, declarations that you have dropped the old name and adopted the new one, a date, your signature in each name and your witnesses’ details. Ours is a single A4 page on green certificate paper. There is no official government design.
What does a Deed Poll certificate look like?
No government office issues a separate certificate. The signed Deed Poll is the certificate people mean, and ours is printed on green certificate paper, which is why it gets called one. An organisation that asks for your certificate wants the deed itself, or a certified copy where it accepts one.
Is there an official Deed Poll form or design?
Not for an unenrolled Deed Poll, which is the kind almost everyone has. HM Passport Office’s caseworker guidance says one has no set format or wording, and looks instead for signatures in both names, witnesses, ink and a date. Only enrolling a deed with the High Court uses the court’s own forms.
Does a Deed Poll have to be on special paper?
No. The Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 abolished any rule restricting what a deed may be written on. We print ours on green certificate paper so it looks the part, but the law does not ask for it.
Does a Deed Poll have a stamp or a seal?
No. A deed made by a person has not needed a seal since the 1989 Act, and no stamp is part of making one. The only Deed Polls that are sealed are those enrolled with the High Court, which the court’s Deed Poll Office seals and posts back.
Can I see an example of a Deed Poll before I order?
Yes. The drawing on this page is our adult Deed Poll, drawn from the layout we print, with an invented reference and the wording shown as lines. Every adult deed we draft follows that layout, with your own names, address and reference in place.
Something else? Ask a paralegal and we will answer, usually the same working day.
Related answers
Want one that looks like this?
Apply online in about five minutes. A paralegal drafts your Deed Poll, quality control checks it, and it is posted on our green certificate paper the same working day, guaranteed to be accepted.
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