Changing my name

[startingover231]

I have just heard from my children that XH has proposed to the OW and they plan to get married next year! Whilst I am largely unbothered by this, I have now reached a stage where she has my pity and is welcome to him (apologies if that sounds bitter! It's probably because I am ) However I always said if they married and she became Mrs face , then I no longer wanted to be Mrs face and would revert to my maiden name. How many of you have done that? How difficult is it and does it complicate issues with passports etc. I have a holiday booked as Mrs **face so would need to travel on my 'married name ' passport. Is it allowed to be known under two names until it's all sorted and changed over? Is there a time scale that I must change my name on everything? Any advice will be much appreciated!

I took the opportunity to give myself a nice new surname! My maiden name was boring 😊

I reverted back no problem. Well other than people not getting that I hadn't just got married. I sent copies of my birth certificate and decree absolute as proof. Always change bank first. Then usually most places won't bat an eyelid. Never had an issue with my passport, legally I was entitled to use both names so as long as I booked flights in the name matching my passport it was fine.

strictlymum I am confused by you being legally entitled to use both names? Surely once you change your name you forfeit the original name? When I change my name at the bank will my standing orders and direct debits automatically change or do I have to change all those myself?

As long as your credit files are linked, which they will be once you change your name with the bank, there is no legal reason you cannot use both. One is generally considered your more informal name. But it means you aren't legally acting as two different people. Or 3 in my case

Sorry, to answer the debits question. The name on the account makes no difference wrt them,you would still have to change your name with each of the suppliers

I always thought you could revert back to maiden name using your divorce papers, no need for deed poll.

I've recently changed my name by deed poll. I've been married and divorced and my recent nc was so I had the same name as dp for when our baby arrived. It's a ball ache but the deed poll company I used notified the major organisations (dvla/passport office/council/electoral roll) for 25 quid. I have to change my name on the bank accounts etc which I'll get round to eventually but it was pretty straight forward.

When I got divorced I just changed everything back, luckily I never changed my passport over to my married name as I had only just got it renewed in my maiden name.

You don't forfeit your birth name on marriage, you are allowed to keep using it as long as you aren't doing it for fraud purposes. You could easily have had bank accounts in both names at different banks; passport in one name and driving license in the other etc. Unfortunately official bodies don't see it like that when it comes to changing back and can require proof although technically your original birth certificate should be all the proof you need.

Just a message for the any Scottish MN'ers who may be on this thread - the rules for changing your name are different (and significantly easier) than England & Wales (don't know about NI). Deed poll is entirely worthless and needless in Scotland, despite the website telling you differently they're happy to take your money.

As there is no obligation to change your name upon marriage, you are legally entitled to use either your maiden surname or your married name, or a double-barrelled version. In the case of divorce (or even if you just feel like using it again) you can just revert back to your maiden surname, you don't need to explain yourself as it will always be your legally recognised name.

In Scotland, you can change your birth certificate legally (for a fee) up to 3 times, although there must be at least 5 years between each change of name. Which means, technically, you can have your Scottish birth certificate changed to show your name as Phoebe Buffay if you wanted to. (And you should see some of the names that do come through the system....)

Also, you can just change your name on official documents like banks, driving licence and passport when you use an assumed name. All you have to do is get a Declaration of Change of Name form from your local registration office and have it signed in front of a Justice of the Peace or Notary Public totally free of charge.

HTH

Your maiden name is legally your name already. You don't need to change it back via deed poll. When you change your name back to your maiden name you will just need to provide a copy of your birth certificate as proof.

Thank you all for your great advice🙂 I've bitten the bullet, downloaded the forms, informed my closest friends and family of my intentions to revert to my maiden name and will start the process of changing my name on official bits asap. I am sure it will take ages to change everything but I feel really positive and empowered.

Remember to do it the free way! So I don't have to bang my head on a brick wall because of you paying for it as well as all the others.

anthonypandy it's done with the forms from the website you recommended , so as long as these forms are accepted everywhere you will have headache free time 😉 Thank you so much , I never imagined it could be done for nothing.

You are legally entitled to your "original" name. However if your passport is in your married name you will need to book holidays in your married name. Otherwise you will need to apply for a new passport, at a fee, and include your birth certificate and divorce documents.

Only thing to check for is if you are using your married name to book holidays so it matches your passport is to make sure you don't have problems paying. If you have already changed your nam with bank/credit card company they may wonder why the names don't match?

Sorry to hi-jack but Thunder I am renewing my passport and now reverting back to my maiden name (separated but divorce not yet applied for so no docs to send off).

Passport application asks:

"If you are reverting back to your maiden or unmarried name, all of the following are required:
• Your birth certificate and
• A decree absolute showing both names and
• A marriage certificate showing both names and
• A signed statement saying that you now use your maiden name for all purposes."

Does this not apply in Scotland? Will my old passport, in married name, do? Should I dig out my old maiden name one too?

I haven't applied for my passport name to be changed yet as I have a holiday booked for next month in my married name. But what I discovered so far is..... You can only carry over up to nine months of your old passport to a renewal. (Tough if you haven't long ago renewed it!
You don't need your marriage certificate (if you're divorced that disappears to the divorce courts! ) but I haven't tested that yet!
You can't change your driving licence until you change your passport as the two are linked electronically for id purposes! Which means you can't change car registration documents or car insurance..... I am currently living with two names, struggle to remember who I am sometimes!!
Not sure if the rules on Scotland are different?

I went back to my maiden name but when I tried to change at the bank they said I needed a Deed Poll to change it officially. Got one easily enough (with extra certified copies as other pp said). I didn't have a passport at the time but if I had I think I would have just waited until it expired.

Startin that is terrible! Aargh!!! I wonder if it would be so bloody difficult if men had to do it.

The thing is we have the shit end of the stick no matter what - if we change our name there's a whole faff right there, and if we don't (and our children have paternal surname) it's problematic travelling with them alone and scores of people just assume the DH name for you so you have to go around correcting them.

The child passport should have both parents' names on. And losing all but 9 months on a passport for what is a simple admin change is ridiculous. You don't really have a choice (they say you can keep your passport in maiden name) because then your driving license is not up to date and that is definitely a no-no!