Deed poll questions

[CoffeeLover90]

Hi, I did post on legal matters but copied here for traffic. I'm looking to change my child's surname to my own. He's under 16. His father has no contact, he is not named on the birth certificate, although I did give him his father's surname.
I'm looking online at the different ways to apply for deed poll. There's enrolled and unenrolled, some websites say an unenrolled is recognised by all organisations, some say it is not. I want his passports to be in his new name, his national insurance number etc. Basically I never want him to he known by his father's name again.
The forms for the enrolled deed poll are asking for a witness I've known over 10 years, I don't have anyone thanks to abusive ex. They also ask for solicitors signature which I assume I need to pay for. Would unenrolled need the same but still have the same effect/rights?
Which is best to go for?
Each website had conflicting info.
Thank you in advance

I can't advise on the detail, but I believe a solicitor's signature costs around £5. You're not asking them to do anything more than confirm you are who you say you are.

Have you looked on the gov.uk website?

Yes. The photos are from the forms I downloaded on government website. It says that an unenrolled 'may not' be accepted by some organisations, yet other websites say this is not the case and an enrolled one simply means it's on public record.
Doesn't help that I need a witness I've known over 10 years though, as I genuinely don't have one. And I suppose everyone would have to sign with solicitors present.
Wondering if unenrolled is more straightforward than that and still has the same effect as an enrolled I.e new name on passport, banks etc

I did both mine and dc (then under 16) unenrolled and had no problem changing everything with that, passports, banks, driving licenses, all of it.

Mine is just a bog standard unenrolled deed poll and I changed all my ID using it. DS has also done a name change using an unenrolled DP.

Thanks for replying
Can I ask did either if your witnesses need to be known by you for more than 10 years? Did you need a solicitor signature for it? I've two friends willing to witness but I'd never ask them to lie on the form

Definitely didn't need a solicitor signature. Can't remember about any other signatures, however it wouldn't have been a 10 year one as I wouldn't have had anybody at that point either.

Thank you so much. I'll go with unenrolled. I wasn't overly keen on having his full name and address printed in the bloody gazette anyway.

We did the unenrolled route too. Got our driving licences and passports changed no problem and most banks plus the registry office happily put both sets of names on put marriage certificate (we changed our surname when getting married). The only issue we had was natwest who flat out refused to accept a deed poll without a solicitors signature on it (despite having driving licences and passports in our new names that they would have happily allowed us to use to open a new account with them....). I had to track down the CEOs email, send him the link to the government website confirming that unenrolled deedpolls are equally legal and get him to intervene. And he did 😆 the staff in the branch were still very unhappy about allowing us to change our names but had to because the "big boss" had told them to. So just be prepared to have to fight a wee bit with non-government organisations! It seemed bonkers that we could present them with pre and post name change passports plus a marriage certificate that had both sets of names on and they STILL wouldn't allow us to change our name because their "computer said no"!!

All NatWest insisted on seeing from me was the original deed poll, rather than a certified copy. As I didn't live near a branch, I continued to run my bank account in my old name for about six months until I was on holiday near a branch and I took the document in then!

Note to self, don't bank with natwest 😆 seriously though, sorry you both had a bad time with them. DS will be aware of name change when he's older as been told he needs to produce birth certificate and deed poll for ID for some things

I've been as confused as you OP so thanks for asking.

I'm pleased you found your answer too, I was researching a lot yesterday and every single website said something different. Thanks to @astarielle Because I really needed to hear from someone with experience in doing this and no one I know IRL had.