Deed of Change of Name

Encyclopedia : D : DE : DEE : Deed of Change of Name

A Deed of Change of Name is a legal document to be filled to enable a single person to officially change his or her name and is bound to that contract. It is a type of deed poll.

There are various reasons why a person would want to change his or her name:

They may wish to change their name in order to receive an inheritance conditional on adopting the name of the deceased.
They may wish to dissociate themselves from a frivolous name given by their parents (eg. old name James Bond new name Jason Bond). A well known example is David Bowie's son Zowie Bowie, who is now know as Duncan Jones.
or from a famous or infamous person (eg. old name Michael Jackson new name Martin Jackson)
from a family black sheep
to revert to a former name
to identify with a heroic personality, eg. new name Arthur Pendragon
or as a form of political protest.

In England and Wales, such a deed may be registered in the Central Office of the High Court. Deeds so registered are advertised in the London Gazette. A Deed of Name Change on behalf of a minor must be approved by the Senior Master on behalf of the Master of the Rolls who will take into account the child's best interests. Registration of deeds is regulated by the Enrolment of Deeds (Change of Name) Regulations 1994, Statutory Instrument 1994 No.604.

The registration of a Change of Name Deed is not strictly required in the UK. A standard legal document, with "standard" wordings, filled in by the person making the deed poll, and signed in presence of a witness, carries sufficient legal authority to be recognized. The witness should be a solicitor, or a professional person such as a mayor, member of parliament, minister of religion, or police constable. Institutions, such as banks, government departments, social security offices, etc., will not recognize a change of name unless presented with a Change of Name Deed.

Note that in the UK, a Change of Name Deed will not change data on the person's certificate of birth. For instance, when applying for a passport, both the Birth Certificate and the Change of Name Deed would need to be presented as documents of identity.

In re Parrott, Cox v Parrott [1946] Ch 183, Mr Justice Vaisey stated that he did not believe that a Deed poll could be used to change a person's Christian name (first name) — that could be done by only an Act of Parliament. Deeds are registered in the High Court that change a person's first name, and they are usually endorsed "Notwithstanding the decision of Mr Justice Vaisey in re Parrott, Cox v Parrott, the applicant wishes the enrolment to proceed".

Legal Wording

A deed of change of name in the United Kingdom contains very specific legal wordings and in general will comprise three declarations. Once correctly executed (i.e. signed, dated and witnessed) these declarations will commit the contracting part to:

Abandon use of a former name
Adopt and make use of a new name at all times in lieu of the former name
Require all persons to address that party by the new name

The example below is a common wording used in a deed of change of name in the United Kingdom. There are variations of acceptable legal wordings both within and across common law countries and jurisdictions accepting such a deed as evidence of proof of a change of name.

BY THIS DEED OF CHANGE OF NAME made by myself the undersigned John SMITH of 1 Sparrow street, London, NW1 formerly known as John JONES

HEREBY DECLARES AS FOLLOWS

1. I ABSOLUTELY and entirely renounce, relinquish and abandon use of my former name of John JONES and assume, adopt and determine to take and use from the date hereof the name of John SMITH in substitution for my former name of John JONES.

2. I SHALL AT ALL TIMES hereafter in all records, deeds, documents and in other writings and in all transactions and on all occasions whatsoever use and subscribe the said name of John SMITH as my name, in substitution for my former name of John JONES so relinquished as aforesaid to the intent that I may hereafter be called, known or distinguished by the name of John SMITH and not my former name of John JONES.

3. I AUTHORISE and require all persons to designate, describe and address me by the adopted name of John SMITH

IN WITNESS whereof I have hereunto subscribed my adopted and substituted forename of John and substituted surname of SMITH and also my said former name of John JONES.

Dated this 1st Day of January in year 2006

SIGNED AS A DEED by the above named John SMITH

[new signature]

formerly known as John Jones

[former signature]

In the presence of:

[witness includes their full name, current address and occupation]

External links

[Enrolment of Deeds and other Documents] Department of Constitutional Affairs website.

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