# DEED POLL
## Important legal, jurisdiction and formality warning
This is a fictional worked illustration of an adult change-of-name deed poll, not legal advice and not a guarantee that an organisation, court, bank or passport authority will accept it. It is written for an adult habitually resident in England and Wales. Deed-poll execution requirements, the law of change of name, HM Passport Office evidence rules, driving-licence procedures, immigration and nationality rules, safeguarding restrictions, matrimonial and civil-partnership records, professional registration rules and the separate process for enrolling a deed poll must be checked at the date of signing. An unenrolled deed poll is not the same as an enrolled deed poll. This document's worked wording and fictional names do not replace the current requirements of the relevant authority. Obtain independent advice if the change relates to fraud prevention, debt, family proceedings, immigration, gender recognition, a child or an attempt to evade an obligation.
Date of deed: 12 June 2027
## Worked illustrative identity details
I, Sophie Amelia Grant, of 16 Bracken Mews, Ely CB7 4QF, formerly known as Sophie Amelia Hart, born on 18 September 1992, declare that I have capacity to make this deed. My email for correspondence about the worked example is sophie.grant@example.test. The names, date of birth, address and email in this illustration are fictional. A person using a real deed must provide truthful details and should not copy these details.
I was born in England and Wales and have ordinarily lived at the address stated above since 4 February 2024. I am an adult and am not changing my name to defraud, mislead or avoid a debt, court order, contractual duty, immigration requirement, criminal investigation or other legal obligation. A change of name does not release me from an existing obligation and does not alter my identity history or the accuracy of a record about events before the change.
## Operative declaration
I absolutely and entirely renounce, relinquish and abandon the use of my former name Sophie Amelia Hart and assume, adopt and determine to take and use the name Sophie Amelia Grant in substitution for my former name.
I shall at all times hereafter use the name Sophie Amelia Grant and shall so sign my name on all documents, records, applications, accounts and communications where I am required or permitted to sign. I request and authorise all persons, organisations, government departments, educational bodies, banks, insurers, healthcare providers, employers, professional bodies and other authorities to describe and identify me by the name Sophie Amelia Grant. This request does not compel an organisation to alter a record without its own evidence, security checks or legal power to do so.
I undertake that I shall not use the former name Sophie Amelia Hart as my current name after the operative date, except where it is necessary to explain my previous identity, locate an historical record, complete a lawful identity check, comply with a legal requirement, deal with a contract or account made in that name, or prevent confusion about an event that occurred before this deed. When using the former name for such a limited explanation, I will make clear that it is my former name and not my adopted current name.
## Reasons and continuity
I have chosen the surname Grant because it is my family surname used by my maternal grandparents and I wish to use it consistently in my personal and professional life. I am not asserting that the surname gives me a title, rank, inheritance, nationality, professional qualification, right to practise a regulated occupation or entitlement to another person's property. The change is a change of name only.
This deed does not change my date or place of birth, parentage, nationality, sex, gender record, relationship status, tax history, National Insurance record, credit history, educational record, employment history, professional discipline history, criminal record, immigration status, contractual liability, beneficial ownership or any court order. It does not make a false statement true. I will provide this deed and other evidence honestly when an authority asks why earlier documents carry the former name.
I will notify relevant organisations in an orderly way. My first intended notifications are Fenmere Bank, the electoral registration officer for my local authority, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the passport authority, my employer Alderwick Museum Trust, my pension administrator, my insurer, my GP practice, my dentist, my professional association and any creditor or contracting party that needs accurate contact information. The order and evidence accepted by each organisation may differ. I will keep copies of notification letters and confirmation messages.
## Effect on documents and accounts
A passport, driving licence, birth certificate, degree certificate, share record, lease, mortgage, insurance policy, will, power of attorney, court file and financial account may have its own alteration, reissue or evidential process. I will not cut, amend, deface or annotate an original official document unless the issuing authority expressly directs me to do so. I will retain a certified or otherwise properly evidenced copy of this deed where appropriate and will keep the original safely.
I understand that an organisation may ask for proof of identity, proof of address, a birth or marriage record, an immigration document, a statutory declaration, a countersigned photograph or another document. The organisation may also require a specific form, an application fee or personal attendance. This deed is intended to support those applications but is not an instruction to an organisation to ignore its governing statute, policy, data-protection duty or fraud-prevention process.
## No evasion and truthful disclosure
I confirm that I have not made this deed to conceal a debt, defeat a creditor, avoid tax, obstruct a court, mislead an employer, obtain credit dishonestly, conceal a criminal history or frustrate a safeguarding or identity check. If an authority lawfully asks for my former name, I will disclose it. If a legal process requires service in both names, I will cooperate. If a contract requires notice of a change of name, I will give notice within the time required by that contract.
I understand that changing my name does not itself amend a will, nomination, trust, land registration entry, company record, partnership document, bank mandate, shareholding, pension nomination or power of attorney. I will seek the relevant office's instructions and professional advice before assuming that this deed changes any of those instruments. I will not represent that this deed is an enrolled deed poll unless it has actually been enrolled through the appropriate process.
## Governing intention
This deed is intended to take effect as a deed poll under the law of England and Wales when I execute and deliver it. Delivery means that I intend to be bound by it; it does not necessarily mean that I must hand the paper to another person. I will date it only when the execution and delivery requirements applicable to my circumstances have been satisfied. If a mandatory rule requires another form or prevents part of this wording from operating, that rule prevails.
The contents above are a worked illustrative declaration. The execution block below is also illustrative. Before signing, I will check the current law and the acceptance requirements of every organisation that needs the document. In particular, an adult executing an ordinary unenrolled deed poll should sign in the presence of an independent adult witness, and the witness should sign and give an address. A person who needs an enrolled deed poll must follow the separate enrolment procedure and cannot treat this example as proof of enrolment. A child, person lacking capacity, or person subject to a special status may need a different process.
## Execution as a deed
Signed as a deed by Sophie Amelia Grant, formerly known as Sophie Amelia Hart, in the presence of:
Signature of person executing the deed: __________________________
Date of signature: 12 June 2027
Witness signature: __________________________
Witness full name: Harriet June Bell
Witness address: 3 Willowmere Street, Ely CB6 1QZ
Witness occupation: Building surveyor
The witness confirms that Sophie Amelia Grant signed or acknowledged this deed in the witness's presence and that the witness is an independent adult who is not a party to the deed. The witness should sign only if that statement is true.
## Delivery and retention record
I declare that I delivered this deed on 12 June 2027 by signing it with the intention that it should be immediately binding. I will retain the original in a secure document folder and will give copies only through a route that reasonably protects my personal information. I will record which organisations received a copy and whether each organisation confirmed acceptance.
For clarity, the following are not claimed by this worked illustration: that every authority must accept an unenrolled deed poll without further evidence; that an enrolled deed poll has been made; that any former record will be deleted; that the name change affects a debt or legal obligation; or that any authority has already changed its record. Those outcomes require separate factual and procedural steps. This paragraph is an explanatory distinction, not an unexplained alternative form.
## Signature confirmation record — do not sign as a second execution
The execution block above is the sole signature block in this worked deed poll. The following statement records what the signer confirms; it is not a second execution block and must not be signed or dated again:
I have read the whole deed, understand that it records a permanent change of name unless a later lawful change is made, and have had an opportunity to obtain independent advice. I confirm that the information given is truthful to the best of my knowledge.