deed poll advice

[Avpixie27]

Hello, my son has expressed he wants to change his name, my sons father and I have not been together since he was 2 and is a real piece of work, he hasn't had him at all during covid. Has any one else gone through this? If so did you have to fill out the deed poll alone or have the sons father present and on all the documents? Did you also need a letter from the father stating consent? Any help is much appreciated

I printed out a letter that he signed to show consent. I then typed up my own deed poll, got it witnessed and sent the documents out together to all necessary places.

If he’s under 16 & dad is on the birth certificate then you need his permission.

How old is he?

So you left his name off all the deed poll documents and just had him sign a separate letter? And the application was all sorted fine?

He is 6 years old

@Avpixie27

He is 6 years old

so you'll need permission from Dad if he is on the birth certificate

www.gov.uk/change-name-deed-poll/change-a-childs-name

He has agreed to the name change (after a massive battle) . Im just unsure if he needs to be present at the solicitors, on the actual deed poll or a separate letter of consent

Don't use any of the many services offering to do it for you for a fee.

My plan is to use the official government documents. But they are not clear on separate parents who were never married.

Pp's link contains everything you need. You'll have to do an enrolled deed poll but all the forms and instructions are on gov.uk.

@Avpixie27

My plan is to use the official government documents. But they are not clear on separate parents who were never married.

Consent is required from everyone with parental responsibility. I think the info on the link above is very clear.

Those are the documents i have. Was just wondering how everyone dealt with the father not really being in the picture and if they did it all alone but had a consent letter from him or they had to have him present

@DNTSleepingDragons

I printed out a letter that he signed to show consent. I then typed up my own deed poll, got it witnessed and sent the documents out together to all necessary places.

Was this recent and which place as i am in Wales. Was the application all okay this way?

@user1632477324668886543

Pp's link contains everything you need. You'll have to do an enrolled deed poll but all the forms and instructions are on gov.uk.

You never have to enrol a deed poll. It's an unnecessary step in all cases.

Thank you for all your help, my some father has now declared he wont give a letter or even sign an affidavit unless hes in the solicitors with me. So none of this matters now

Yes normally enrolling a deed poll is unnecessary. But the gov info for minors specifies:

Some organisations will only accept an enrolled deed poll as proof of a name change. For example, to change your child’s name on their passport you will need an enrolled deed poll.

Sorry to hear that, op. I think it can be forced through courts sometimes in cases of DV but from what I know it's not an easy process.

There's no such thing as a legal name in E&W so technically there's nothing to stop your son being known by any name he wants (a deed poll is just to evidence the name you use if you want to change documents), but he wouldn't be able to have matching documents until he can do his own deed poll at 16 so tbh it might be more aggro than it is worth as school may be awkward and he would still have regular reminders of the name each time he was forced to use it for a formal purpose.

Hope this is not causing him distress.

After lengthly discussions my sons father has agreed to name change if he is with me at signing in solicitors office. So that is atleast a step forward.

In school he has already changed his name but as stated its a constant reminder so he wants to be changed so hopefully a solicitor can agree to see us and get it all sorted.

Thank you everyone for advice and help

@user1632477324668886543

Yes normally enrolling a deed poll is unnecessary. But the gov info for minors specifies:

Some organisations will only accept an enrolled deed poll as proof of a name change. For example, to change your child’s name on their passport you will need an enrolled deed poll.

Sorry to hear that, op. I think it can be forced through courts sometimes in cases of DV but from what I know it's not an easy process.

There's no such thing as a legal name in E&W so technically there's nothing to stop your son being known by any name he wants (a deed poll is just to evidence the name you use if you want to change documents), but he wouldn't be able to have matching documents until he can do his own deed poll at 16 so tbh it might be more aggro than it is worth as school may be awkward and he would still have regular reminders of the name each time he was forced to use it for a formal purpose.

Hope this is not causing him distress.

This advice is wrong. Clients of mine have never had a problem changing a child’s name with an unenrolled deed poll.

The government website doesn’t say this anyway www.gov.uk/get-a-child-passport/change-name-or-personal-details-on-a-child-passport

Thought id give an update. He finally agreed and we went to a lawyers yesterday and signed everything (after him questioning every line or text). But the lawyer put him straight and we posted the document straight away so fingers crossed it all goes okay and my son can have the name he wants