Updating Your Child’s Name on Other Records

After you execute your child’s Deed Poll, you need to send it to all governmental and other organisations whose records need updating. It is important that all departments are notified. One of the declarations within the Deed Poll document is that your child will use their new name ‘at all times’.

We can provide additional copies of the Deed Poll to help speed up the name change notification process. More information on this service is found below.

When notifying organisations, enclose a letter of consent in addition to your child’s Deed Poll document. This should confirm that all persons holding parental responsibility for your child give their consent to the name change. For example, professional record holders such as the passport office require such a letter before changing their records into your child’s new name. Example letters of consent can be found on our page Letters of Consent.

Listed below are some of the key organisations you may need to advise of your child’s change of name. The information pack given with the Deed Poll document contains a more comprehensive list. It also contains notes about what you need to do for each. 

• Identity and Passport Service 
• School
• Doctors/Dentist
• Bank/Building Society

Documents on Which You Cannot Update Your Child’s Name

When changing a child’s name there are very few documents on which your child’s name cannot be changed. Names entered on educational certificates cannot be altered since they are ‘matter of fact’ documents. In other words, at the time they were correct at the time of issue. However, due to the nature of Deed Poll applications, children’s Deed Polls are only issue to those under sixteen years of age. Most of those children have not received any GCSE or similar educational certificates.

The other document on which your child’s name cannot usually be changed is a birth certificate. Again, at the time that it was issued it held the correct information. However, under certain circumstances and depending on where the birth was registered, it is possible to re-register a child’s birth. In which, case the name on the child’s birth certificate can be changed. For more information please read Changing a name on a Birth Certificate.

Additional Copies of Your Child’s Deed Poll

Certain organisations that you will need to notify of your child’s name change will not accept a photocopy of their Deed Poll. An example of such a department is the Identity and Passport Office. Further information on what kind of document to send each record holder is in the information pack with your child’s Deed Poll.

Sending out one document to a number of organisations can be a slow and tedious process. To help update your child’s records more efficiently we can provide you with additional copies of the Deed Poll which will be accepted by all organisations.

If you decide to have additional copies of your child’s Deed Poll prepared you can order them when filling in the application form for your child’s Deed Poll.

You will then receive however many copies you require at the same time as the original document. If at a later date you require further copies, simply contact us. Similarly, if you were to lose your child’s Deed Poll, we could send you a replacement which would save you going through the application process for a second time. Using additional copies to notify organisations of your child’s name change allows you to complete the process much faster.