Our Deed Poll, signed right
Where to sign your Deed Poll
On our Deed Poll you sign twice: in your new name in the box beside “As a Deed by”, then in your old name in the box beside “Formerly”. The date goes in the blank that ends the “In Witness” line, and your two witnesses use the ruled spaces at the foot of the page, each signing and then adding their name, address and occupation. All of it is done in ink, at one sitting.
- Five places, one sitting
- Practised on our real layout
- Accepted, or your money back
The five places on our Deed Poll
- Your new nameThe box beside “As a Deed by”
- Your old nameThe box beside “Formerly”
- The dateThe blank ending “In Witness”
- First witnessOne column at the foot
- Second witnessThe other column
Rehearse the signing on our Deed Poll
This is our adult Deed Poll, drawn from its real layout. Choose where each signature and the date belong, in the order of the signing guide we email you after ordering. A wrong choice explains the slip here, where it costs nothing. Nothing you tap is sent anywhere or saved.
Step 1 of 5
Where do you sign in your new name?
Tap the place on the deed, or move to it with Tab and press Enter.
Where each one goes, in order
Your new name, in the box beside “As a Deed by”
Your new name is printed under the box. Sign inside it, the way you will sign from now on.
Your old name, in the box beside “Formerly”
Your old name is printed under this one. Use the signature you have always used in that name.
The date, at the end of the “In Witness” line
The day you are signing, which is the day your new name starts. It sits just above “Signed and Delivered”.
Your first witness, in one column at the foot
They sign on the top line, then write their full name, home address and occupation on the lines below.
Your second witness, in the other column
The same again, while everyone is still at the table.
The order, the pen and the copies
The order. The signing guide we email after you order lists your two signatures first, new name then old, then the date, then your witnesses. Neither the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 nor HM Passport Office’s guidance sets an order within the sitting. What the Act does require is that you sign while a witness is present, and that the witness then attests your signature, so the witnesses always sign after you.
The pen. HM Passport Office accepts an unenrolled deed only when every signature on it is a wet one, made by hand, so nothing typed, pasted or drawn on a screen will do. HM Land Registry’s guide to signing deeds adds that a handwritten signature ought to be in ink. One pen in black or blue ink, for every signature and the date, keeps the page looking like what it is: a single signing.
The copies. Each certified copy carries the same five places and is signed exactly as the deed is, by you and both witnesses, with the same date, at the same sitting. Our certified copies arrive with the deed for that reason.
Still deciding what your new signature should look like? The Deed Polls Online handbook, our sister site, covers how to sign a Deed Poll and settling on a new signature.
One sitting, start to finish
- Read it before the pen comes outBoth names, your title and the address, letter by letter.
- Both witnesses in the roomWatching from the first signature to the last.
- You sign twiceNew name beside “As a Deed by”, old name beside “Formerly”.
- You write the dateToday’s, in the blank at the end of the “In Witness” line.
- Each witness signsThen adds their full name, home address and occupation.
- Every certified copy, the same waySame signatures, same witnesses, same date.
- DoneNothing to send back to us. The signed deed is your evidence from today.
Where the places move on our other deeds
Our child and replacement Deed Polls use the same green paper, the same heading and the same two witness columns at the foot. A few places change.
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Under 16
A child’s Deed Poll
The parent signs in a box beside “As a Deed by the above named”, with their own name printed beneath, and when both parents are named each has a box. There is no “Formerly” box, because the parent’s name is not the one changing, and the child does not sign. The date and the witness columns are where they are on the adult deed.
Our child Deed Poll -
Lost or damaged
A replacement
Two date blanks instead of one. The first, near the start, records when the original deed was made, “on or about” that day, as near as you know it. The blank in the closing line takes the day you sign the replacement. On a child’s replacement, the original date goes in a fourth numbered line.
Our replacement service -
Aged 16 or 17
Your own adult deed
From 16 you have the deed rehearsed above, and you sign it yourself in the same five places, with the same two witnesses watching.
A Deed Poll at 16 or 17
A slip made in ink
Put the pen down and change nothing. Crossing out, writing over a letter or reaching for correction fluid turns a small slip into a deed that looks altered, and an altered deed invites questions about what it said before.
Then email support@deedpolls.org with your order reference and what happened, before the deed goes to anyone. A paralegal will tell you whether it can stand as it is or should be signed again on a fresh one.
Curious how each kind of slip measures up? The Deed Polls Online handbook, our sister site, sets mistakes against HM Passport Office’s test, from a signature in the wrong box to a wrong date.
The slip, and the first move
- Signed in the wrong box
- Leave it exactly as it is, and email us
- Wrote the wrong date
- Do not write over it; email us first
- A witness left before signing
- They cannot sign later on their own; email us
- A misspelt name, spotted after signing
- Keep the deed at home, and email us
Never correction fluid, a crossing-out or initials in the margin.
Signing when you cannot write your name
The law makes room for it. Deeds signed by individuals in England and Wales follow the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, whose section 1 counts making your mark as signing. It also lets another person sign a deed for you, at your direction and in your presence, provided two witnesses are there and each attests that signature.
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Usual
Your own signature
You sign while a witness watches, and the witness attests it. Section 1(3)(a)(i), and the way our deed is laid out.
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Allowed
Your mark
Section 1(4) says that signing includes making one’s mark on the deed, so a mark you make yourself stands as your signature.
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Allowed, with two witnesses
Signed at your direction
Someone signs for you, because you ask them to and while you are there, with two witnesses present who each attest that signature. Section 1(3)(a)(ii).
“at his direction and in his presence and the presence of two witnesses who each attest the signature”
What it looks like in practice
HM Land Registry’s practice guide on executing deeds, written for property deeds, describes the second route: the person signing for you uses their own signature, and the usual signing words are adapted to say how the deed was signed. Where someone can sign in any way at all, by hand, foot or mouth, a mark included, it says the ordinary way may be preferable.
If reading is the difficulty rather than writing, the same guide suggests having the deed read aloud, or using an enlarged or Braille copy, before it is signed.
Where the guidance is silent
HM Passport Office’s caseworker guidance asks for signatures in both the old and the new name, made in wet ink, and says nothing about a mark or a deed signed at someone’s direction. Our deed’s signing words are written for the usual way, and it already has space for the two witnesses the second route needs.
So ask us before you order. Tell us what you need, and a paralegal will say how we would approach it.
Ask a paralegalWhere to sign, answered
Where do I sign my Deed Poll?
In the two boxes on the right of the page, below the words “Signed and Delivered”. Your new name goes in the box beside “As a Deed by” and your old name in the box beside “Formerly”, and each box has the name it is for printed underneath. Sign inside the boxes, in ink, while your witnesses watch. Rehearse it on ours.
Do I sign in my new name or my old name first?
The signing guide we email lists the new name first, and its box is the higher of the two, so start there and then sign beside “Formerly”. Neither the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 nor HM Passport Office’s guidance fixes the order. What matters is that both signatures are there, in ink, made in front of your witnesses.
Where does the date go on my Deed Poll?
In the blank at the end of the paragraph that begins “In Witness”, just above “Signed and Delivered”. Write the day you are signing, with your witnesses there, because that is the day your new name takes effect. A replacement Deed Poll has a second blank near the start, for the date of the original deed.
Who can I get to sign my Deed Poll as a witness?
An adult who is independent of you: 18 or over, not a relative, not your partner and not living at your address. A colleague, a neighbour or a friend is the usual choice. Each witness takes one of the two columns at the foot of the page, signs, and writes their full name, home address and occupation. Finding a witness.
Can someone else sign my Deed Poll for me?
Only in the way the law provides. Section 1(3) of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 allows someone to sign a deed for you, at your direction and while you are there, provided two witnesses each attest that signature, and making your own mark also counts as signing. HM Passport Office’s caseworker guidance is silent on both, so email us before ordering. Signing when you cannot write your name.
Do I sign the certified copies too?
Yes, every one. Each certified copy has the same five places, and you and both witnesses sign it just as you sign the deed, with the same date and at the same sitting.
Something else? Ask a paralegal and we will answer, usually the same working day.
Related answers
Rehearsed it? Order the real one
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, with every place to sign marked.
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