Changing surname by deed poll

[AllStar14]

I'd like to change my surname and that of my children's. I use my mother's maiden name and my children have my surname too. However, it isn't the name my siblings have and my mum (passed away 2 years ago) was always known by her married name (same as siblings). So basically I'm the only person in my family with this surname, I don't like that I have a different name to my brother and sister, and I don't particularly like it as a name so that's another reason. Is it easy enough to change surnames? Are there any issues that might arise that I can't think of?

The downside - apart from the cost - is the sheer number of letters and copied of the Deed Poll you have to send to people. MIL did it. She spent nearly 9 months getting everyone she dealt with up tp speed on her new surname.

It was piss easy to do.
The only issue that I can think of is the children's father. You ordinarily need his permission for an under 16.

Oh yes the admin side would be time consuming! But once it's done that's it. I think I just want my mums name (the one she was always known as, rather than her maiden name) and the connection with my siblings so I'd be willing to deal with the paperwork :-)

@pika thank you. My DC don't have fathers on their birth certificate.

There wasn't many to send out? DVLA, Passport, Bank, Council Tax, Work, GP, utilities, landlord and Insurance companies iirc and many were happy to take my word for it over the phone.

It's surprisingly easy to do and the only hassle is realising how many people/organisations you need to change it with.

There is no cost to it, I simply copied some text I found online and got a couple of friends to witness it. I've had no problem with my essentially homemade deed poll being accepted by banks/hmrc etc etc.

You'd need your dcs fathers permission to change theirs up until they are 16 as far as I know.

Very easy to do. No need to pay for anything, you can do it for free yourself or using a website like this.

I recommend printing out several copies and signing and witnessing them all. That way you can send "originals" to multiple people at once rather than having to do them one at a time.

Plain printer paper is legally fine, but you may find using slightly posher paper makes people take it a bit more seriously.

@bunslinger thank you!