I got divorced when my youngest child was a baby. I reverted to my maiden  name and after consulting my solicitor changed the childrens names to my maiden name as well. I was told by my solicitor  at the time we did not need to do anything like change by deed poll, just to start using the name.

So for the last 20 years my children have been using a different name to the one that is on their birth certificates. They have all Drs records, school records, tax records etc and even passports in my maiden name. My oldest also has a driving licence in this name.
My youngest has recently applied for a driving licence and has been having no end of problems. Obviously she wants the licence in the name she uses not the name on her birth certificate as she has never been known as that. However the DVLA are refusing to issue a licence in the name she uses. I have tried writing to them and speaking to them but they say as my daughter is over 18 she will need to change her name by deed poll before they can issue the licence. I wrote a covering letter to the DVLA for my older child and apparently that was acceptable as she was under 18 at the time however because youngest is over 18 they will not accept a letter form me.
It seems crazy to me that the DVLA will happily issue a licence to my daughter in a name that has not been used since she was 6 months old but refuse to put the name that the whole world uses just because her birth certificate has a different name. She has said she doesn't want to change her name by deed poll as it will cost money, and anyway I really cannot see that there is any need for her to do so as she has been using her name all her life and every other agency knows her by this name.

Just wondering if anyone can shed any light on how to proceed?

I had major issues trying to get a passport for similar reasons to the above, however my mom did actually do it by deed-pole (sp)
and i had a new birth certificate. I just remember being livid that my mom took it upon herself to change my name, although i was only 18 months at the time, i would have wanted to keep my birth surname but thats another matter lol.

My ex walked out when my son was 3 months old and we got divorced, I wanted to revert to my maiden name and change the baby too but his father would not agree, solicitor said I could go ahead with my name change but that would have only complicated matters having 2 different surnames, like you I was told I could call my son what ever I wanted but there would be no legal paper work to support the change at a later date, I waited till my son left home and reverted back, I had a birth certificate to prove that was the name I was born with and needed to produce this for pension and endowment purposes as they had been taken out in my married name but many years after my divorce.

Have you tried contacting the CAB for free advice as to how your daughter can get round this? How did your kids get their NI numbers as they are issued based on info held from your birth certificate unless that has changed.

A name change by deed poll is a very straightforward process and relatively quick.  It's a good idea if only to ensure you tidy up the paper trail and save complications for your children further down the line - another time it might raise it's head is when either of your children wish to get married

I changed my name by deed poll some years ago. It was very quick and pretty cheap (only around £40 if I remember rightly). The most tiresome thing was changing all the other paperwork (bank account etc) but if she's been using her name already, that's not going to be an issue.

I changed my name my deed poll and my kids are known by my maiden name,
My eldest ended up with everything in my maiden name, but officially he was still his fathers name.
But on his 16th Birthday (I was only allowed to do that as his father has had no contact with him and he was a sensible 16 year old) I go a solicitor to draw up the paperwork, it was about £70, so he is now officially has my surname.
My younger son is known by my surname but school still has his legal surname on it, so will do the same at the age 16 before he does his exams!!
So go see a solictitor :)
Lea :)

I meant to say:  You can simply apply online, see the following extract from the DP website

It costs £ 18.00 for a standard deed poll application. The fee is the same for adult and child applications, however, there are reduced rates for family members who apply at the same time. For full details on pricing, see the current price list.

How the online application works

Complete the online application form
When we have received payment, we will send you your deed poll documentation by post
When you receive the deed poll, you will need to execute it (sign it in front of a witness) -- full instructions are provided
You can then use your executed deed poll to inform record holders of your new name
For further information, see the section about the application procedure.

I had this same problem.  My parents split when I was very young and my mum re-married and I took the name of my mums 2nd husband(to save face basically in the village!).  This wasn't done offically as my father hadn't allowed it but my mum did it through the school, docs etc.  Anyway, when I was applying for driving license and passports, I had to make an appointment with a lawyer and offically state that I have been known by this name for x amount of years.  Then it was witnessed.  This is now attatched to my birth certificate so I no longer have to explain the situation to all and sundry!

I had similar problems - but managed to have a driving license and passport initially - something happened to my driving license and I needed a new one, as the passport had expired I ended up having to change my name by deed poll some 40years after changing it in practice :-(  It was relatively simple though, so would recommend just doing it, you can't fight DVLA!

Thanks for the responses so far. VEry interesting.
Taken from the deed poll website

In law, your name is legally established by usage. This means that you have the right to call yourself whatever you want at any time -- you simply start using another name, and gradually, by usage and reputation, you become known by it. Your new name becomes official once you are known by it for all purposes -- meaning on all your official documents -- your passport, driving licence, and so on.
The deed poll (or marriage certificate, for example) does not change your name itself -- you acquire a new name by using it.

Surely if my daughter has been using her name all her life and all her documentation, bank accounts, medical records, education history, University course etc are in my maiden name and absolutely nothing is in my married name then she doesn't need a deed poll as well. It might not be expensive but I really don't see the point in paying anyone for the privilege of using a name she already has. And not only that the DVLA will happily issue a licence in the name of a person who in effect doesn't exist. where is the logic??

Its because of so many people defrauding everything., The same reason that you go to a sloicitor you know personally or have used before with a case slightly different to what you have before, you have to prove who you are because of money laundering!!!! So on a child issue we had to prove who we were even though we had used the same solicitors for the last 2 years, but the case we went to was a slightly different issue!!!
Lea :)

Logic might not be being applied here but at the least, you can get it done cheaply.  When I changed my name it cost me £7.50 - then £5 when I had to do it again as I'd lost the original copy!  Fully legal both times and I've not had any trouble with changing things the in 5 years since I did it :-)

If your daughter is using a different name to what is on her birth certificate then it seems logical to me that she would need to change through some official way.
When my Daughter was small I decided to add my Mums name to her name and I did it on the computer for a small fee. Recently I applied for her a passport. I put her full new name on the application form but did not send a copy of the deed poll form. Her passport came back with the shorter name that is on her birth certificate.

To save problems in the future I would just deed poll her name as it is official and it doesn't cost a lot.

My husband used his stepfather's surname since he was a small boy. When we got married he had to use the surname on his birth certificate and that is now our family name although all his other official documents up until our wedding date were using his mum's new name by marriage.

As an aside his half sister didn't have her birth registered until a birth certificate was needed when she was due to start school. She was born a twin and her twin sister died a few days after birth and somehow only the twin sister's birth was registered. In order to get the surviving twin's birth registered-when she was 5 years old- it had to go through the courts and was a very difficult process. As there was already a female child born to her on that date and also a death certificate for that same child proving that her other daughter was also born on that date but not registered was a very difficult task and took ages for it to be sorted out.

> If your daughter is using a different name to what is on her birth certificate then it seems logical to me that she would need to change through some official way.

It may seem logical but the law does not agree. As I posted earlier the law says you only need to start using your name for it to be come changed. The deed poll does not change your name it is only by using a name it becomes changed.

Therefore I really cannot see the point in a deed poll, certainly in my daughters case. Possibly if this was a new change but as she has been using the name all her life and every other agency in the country knows her by my maiden name then she does not need to apply for a deed poll. We have written a letter back to the DVLA stating this, quoting from the deed poll website and enclosing bank statements, expired passport etc. Will see what they say.

Official information.

This bit of JG's link may apply:
Q: Is consent from everyone with parental responsibility required?
A: Yes. You must have consent from evryone with parental responsibility for the child. The information above will help you find out about who has parental responsibility.

Did their father agree to the name change.

I went back to my maiden name but the children had to keep their FAthers' names even though my son likes to use mine on Facebook etc.

father didn't have parental responsibility.

newyork  The quote you've given, which I realise is from the Deed Poll site, is ambiguous.  If you strongly believe it is unnecessary to change your daughters name via Deed Poll and that the DVLA are wrong, then you (or your daughter as she is over 18) need to take it up with them direct, and perhaps ask a solicitor for advice.

Having been in a situation of changing names for my children I like the Deed Poll process for it's ease of use and simple fee structure and I'm confident that my children will never have the kind of problems your daughter is experiencing for which I'm thankful.  I like the fact that there is a clear paper trail and that they'll never have to justify or explain their names to any official body, which usually takes time and delays the entire process, as well as being an uncomfortable discussion in some situations.

we recently changed my youngest daughters name by deed poll she is 12 years old, her dad (because we were never married) never had parential responsibilty, (something he would of had to apply for) i was planning on getting married and both new partner and daughter said they would like to go down the odoption route, so we contacted her father and he was having none of it so we took advice and was told because he never has parential responsibilty we could go ahead with changing her name without even letting him know, a 10 min appliciation on line cost £35 we was then sent some forms which needed a witness to sign they were then sent back off we now have her birth cert and another piece of paper which is the official name change, for things like passports, driving licences both documents will need to be produced but a very easy proccess and in total took about 3 weeks in total, we just took copys of the name change document to the doctors and the school they took copys. we done this as youngets daughter wanted it official.
The dvla have to do everything by the book to stop people changing their names and getting a new licence when they are actually banned from driving and to stop people from being banned in the name on the birth cert then suddenly changing it and getting a new clean licence, i know it maybe something she does not want to do but it quick and easy and cheap to do and will save more problems in the long run.

Yay. Finally the DVLA have seen sense and have issued my daughter a driving licence in the correct name without insisting on her getting a deed poll.