There are a variety of reasons someone might change their legal name, with adoption, marriage, divorce, and change of gender being some of the most common. In the UK, an individual can change their legal name via deed poll for any genuine reason [1] – it can even be as simple as preferring a different name. If you want your name change to be recognised in another country, however, you may find that you have to show proof of the name change, and this proof may need to be legalised.
When might you need to have proof of your name change legalised?
Documents relating to name changes often need to be legalised in situations where you are using documents issued in your former name outside of the U.K. For instance, if you are moving to live or work in another country and require a visa, there are a number of supporting documents which must be submitted alongside your application. Some countries, such as Egypt, even require visas for short trips. If your name is not consistent across all of the documents used in your application – for example, if the name on your passport is different from the name on your birth certificate – you will have to provide proof that the documents all relate to the same person. This can come in the form of a deed poll, marriage certificate, decree absolute, or adoption certificate.
Other circumstances which may require evidence of your name change include:
- Getting married abroad,
- Applying for a job or further study abroad, if the name on your degree certificate and the one on your identity documents do not match,
- Applying for a change of name on a non-U.K. passport,
Hence, there is a good chance you will need to have documentation of your name change legalised if you are planning to live, work, or study abroad. Legalisation is the process through which a document from one country is recognised as legal and valid in another country. Requirements for legalisation vary across countries: some, such as Canada, do not require foreign documents to be legalised, some require that foreign documents be legalised by both the country of origin and by the receiving country, while others only require legalisation in the form of an apostille from the country of origin.
Note that it is not possible in most circumstances to have birth certificates, marriage certificates, degree certificates or any other historical records reissued with your new name in the U.K. – they will generally bear the legal name of the holder at the time of issue and cannot be changed retroactively. This is why the deed poll is often necessary in order to link your current legal name to your former one.
Exceptions
If you had your name changed due to change of gender, it is possible to avoid having to show proof of your name change abroad, as the Gender Recognition Act allows people in these circumstances who hold a Gender Recognition Certificate to request re-issues of documents such as birth certificates and other historical records with their updated legal name. Provided these updated certificates are obtained, it is unlikely you would have to legalise your deed poll for use abroad, as your name would be consistent across all documentation.
In certain circumstances, you may have to take additional steps after legalising your document in order to ensure that your name change is recognised. For example, in Germany, German nationals who married in the U.K. are required to complete a ‘Declaration of Married Name’, as a legalised British marriage certificate alone is not sufficient to prove name change by German law. [2] This is a process which requires a number of other supporting documents, some of which must also be legalised.
What is the process for having a deed poll legalised?
When your deed poll was first executed, it will have been witnessed and signed by two witnesses. If either one of these witnesses was a U.K. solicitor or notary, then your deed poll can be apostilled by the FCDO without any change. However, if your deed poll was not witnessed by a solicitor or notary, or if it otherwise does not meet the FCDO’s criteria, it will be necessary to have it certified by either a solicitor or notary prior to submitting for an apostille.
Whether you require certification by a solicitor or by a notary will depend largely on the country you are sending the document to, and on whether it will require further attestation following the apostille, as solicitor certification is not always accepted in the place of notarisation.
Countries which have not joined the Hague Convention often require documents to be legalised twice, once by the country of origin and once by the receiving country; for U.K. documents, this usually means having the document apostilled by the FCDO then attested by the other country’s embassy.
You may need to have your deed poll translated, particularly if English is not a procedural language in the country in which you intend to use it. Translation of English-language documents is also increasingly being requested in the EU following Brexit.
At Pardus Bloom, we can arrange the notarisation, legalisation, attestation, and translation of your documents as needed. If you have a number of documents which require these processes – for instance, if you need to have a deed poll legalised alongside certain supporting documents for a visa application – we can arrange to have them all prepared at the same time.
[1] Deed polls for any purpose other than marriage, adoption, or change of gender can be rejected under certain circumstances, such as when containing offensive, copyrighted, or unacceptable words or symbols, or if it is deemed to be made with a frivolous or fraudulent purpose: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/810742/Use-and-change-of-names-v1.0ext.pdf
[2] https://uk.diplo.de/uk-en/02/naming-law/marriedname-civilpartners/2452782