Your name is something which is very personal to you and something which people often take great pride in. Your name, after all, is your identity.
However, for a number of reasons, there may be a time you decide you no longer want to go by your current name, and you wish to change the name you go by to something slightly or even completely different.
For example, when you get married. You may opt to take your spouse’s surname and look forward to your name change marking this life event.
Conversely, if a marriage has broken down, you may find reverting back to your former name gives you a cathartic relief.
A name change is not limited to changes through marriage, however.
You may wish to change your name for other reasons, as personal circumstances change.
It may be that wish to no longer take your family name or that you feel your current name does not reflect who you are.
If you find yourself in a situation where you have taken the decision to change your name, it can be difficult to know where to start.
There is a great deal of information available with the options available to enable you to change your name, and it can become overwhelming when considering enrolled or unenrolled deed polls and it becomes difficult to know where to start.
The reality is it is quite straight forward to change your name.
The route we often assist clients with is preparing an unenrolled deed poll.
We prepare a deed to say that going forward you are renouncing your former name and wish to be known as your new name. Once the deed has been executed, you just need to provide certified copies of this to the bodies which you need to change your name with, for example the Passport Office.
Consideration of name changes doesn’t just stop with yourself, however. We can also help with child change of name deeds.
You’ll have probably read in the media of celebrities and what they choose to name their child – or, in Kylie Jenner’s case, deciding to change your child’s name after a big social media announcement.
Whilst a lot of people may not find themselves in quite the same situation, there are times where a child’s name may need changing.
Provided that all those with parental responsibility agree, the process for changing a child’s name is also fairly straight forward.
The starting point is having parental responsibility for the child. After this it is a case of preparing an unenrolled deed just like the adult process above, only this is executed by the individual with parental responsibility for the child.
If you are in a situation where a child’s name needs changing but you do not have agreement of those with parental responsibility, this is a more complex issue but one which we can still help and guide you through.
If you would like to discuss a change of name for an adult or a child, we offer a free initial consultation to do so. Please get in touch with our Family Team and we can arrange an appointment.
