Changing your child’s name can be an important occasion for your family. There are lots of different things to consider and therefore please take note of the information below before embarking on this process.
One of the ways in which somebody can legally change their name or that of their child’s would be by Deed Poll.
This is a legal document which proves that a change of name has taken place. It can be used to add or remove names, change any part of it, or change the spelling.
A Deed Poll can be complete in two ways:
- Unenrolled, drafted and held by the individual; or
- Enrolled, drafted and lodged with the Court.
Some institutions will not accept an unenrolled Deed Poll and the advice therefore is that it is better to go for the latter.
Once an enrolled Deed Poll is completed, the previous and new name are published in the London Gazette and thus are available to the public.
The process for changing your child’s name via Deed Poll has since come under the spotlight following a recent case in the High Court, W, F, C and D (minors) (Name changes disclosing gender reassignment and other matters) (Rev 1) [2020] EWHC 279 (QB).
The case focuses primarily on children who wish to reassign their gender and the problems parents have encountered when attempting to change their child’s name. However, the case can be widely interpreted and can relate to a usual change of name.
The case centred on the parents of a child undergoing gender reassignment, who completed an enrolled Deed Poll to change the name of their child from a ‘female’ name to a ‘male’ name.
The main issue here was that the information was to become public as mentioned above.
Under separate legislation, it is a criminal offence, for a person in an official capacity, to disclose the fact that a person is of an acquired gender.
Therefore, if, as in this case, the name changes from a stereotypical female name to a stereotypical male name, one may assume that they have undergone gender reassignment thus publicly disclosing the actual fact. This would be contrary to the aforementioned legislation which seeks to achieve privacy and protection for those individuals.
The Judge in this case determined that only the surname would be published. The court file would be marked as private and could only be inspected with the Court’s permission.
The Judge also stressed that all parents should be aware of the other ways they can change their children’s name. There are other, more private ways to change a name such as by unenrolled Deed Poll or Statutory Declaration. Both of which fulfil the same purpose. These documents would be especially useful in cases where the child’s anonymity needs to be preserved due to welfare and risk issues.
In the GDPR age we currently live, people expect a higher degree of anonymity and therefore it begs the question whether reform is on the cards.
Before deciding to embark upon the formal and public route of enrolled Deed Poll, other avenues should be explored in order to decide what is in the best interest of your child.
