Changing a child's legal name

This page contains comprehensive information on the subject of legal name changes for children. Please note, for the purposes of name changes, you are considered a child if you are under the age of 16. Young people who are 16 or over must apply for their own adult Deed Poll.

Sections in this article:

Legal requirements

There are very few laws or regulations relating to name changes within the United Kingdom. However, in the case of child name changes, everyone with parental responsibility for a child must agree to the change taking place before it can happen.

There are a few exceptions to this rule whereby one party may lawfully change their child’s name without the consent of one or more people who also have parental responsibility but this involves applying to a family court for leave (permission) to change the child’s name. For more information on changing your child's name without the consent of one or more people who have parental responsibility, please read the Name changes without consent section.

What is parental responsibility?

Parental responsibility is a legal term used to describe the rights and responsibilities which a parent has over their child. It is defined by the Children Act as having “All the rights, duties, powers, responsibility and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property”.

Who has parental responsibility?

Parental responsibility for a child is not automatically acquired simply by being a parent. Though mothers acquire parental responsibility for their child upon birth, there a different rules for fathers which differ depending on where in the United Kingdom your child was born.

To find out who has parental responsibility for your child, please read the sub-sections below:

For children born in England or Wales:

If the mother and father of a child are married at the time of the child's birth, or if they marry after the event, the father will automatically acquire parental responsibility and will therefore need to be consulted on and consent to the child's name change. Furthermore, unmarried fathers also have parental responsibility for the child if they are recorded on the child's birth certificate. However, this only applies to births which were registered on or after the 1st of December 2003.

For children born in Scotland:

If the mother and father of a child are married at the time of the child's conception, or if they marry after the event, the father will automatically acquire parental responsibility for the child. In addition, an unmarried father will acquire parental responsibility if he is recorded on the birth certificate as the child's father. Please note, this only applies to births which were registered on or after the 4th of May 2006.

For children born in Northern Ireland:

If the mother and father of a child are married at the time of the child's birth, the father will automatically acquire parental responsibility for the child. Unmarried fathers will also acquire parental responsibility if they are recorded on the child's birth certificate but only if the birth was registered on or after the 15th of April 2002.

For births registered outside of the United Kingdom:

If your child's birth was not registered in the United Kingdom, but you have since come to the UK to live, the country in which you reside will be used to determine who has parental responsibility for your child. For example, if you are currently living in Wales, the rules for children born in England and Wales will apply.

Please note: If the father of a child has parental responsibility he must be consulted on and consent to the child's name being changed. If he does not give his consent, the child's name cannot be changed.

If you find your self in a situation whereby one or more parties who have parental responsibility for your child will not give their consent to a name change, you can apply for a court order to enable the child's name to be changed without the consent of the objecting parents. For more information on this course of action, please scroll to the bottom of this article to the section titled Name changes without consent.

Acquisition of parental responsibility

The above section only covers a typical situation whereby the mother has parental responsibility and perhaps the father. However, there are a number of ways in which a third-party, such as a step-parent or grandparent can gain parental responsibility either through a court-registered agreement between the other parents or by being awarded it by a family court order. If there is such an agreement or order in place granting parental responsibility to someone other than the mother and father, that person will also have to agree to the child's name change.

What is a letter of consent?

A letter of consent is a document consisting of a couple of paragraphs of text which is signed by everyone with parental responsibility for a child confirming that they consent to the name change taking place.

In order for us to release a child Deed Poll, we must receive a copy of the letter of consent either by post or by fax.

Why is a letter of consent required?

As mentioned in the Legal requirements section above, everyone with parental responsibility for a child must agree to a name change before it can take place. Although there is no legal requirement for a formal written agreement between parents consenting to a name change, in order for us to ensure that the law is being followed, we need some sort of documentary evidence that everyone with parental responsibility has given their permission.

Furthermore, letters of consent are not only required by us. You will find that most organisations (Identity & Passport Service, banks, schools, doctors, etc) will also require proof that everyone with parental responsibility has consented to the name change before they will update their records. For this reason, we will return the letter of consent to you along with your child’s Deed Poll for future use. Note: letters of consent received by fax will not be returned as it will be assumed that you still have possession of the original document.

Example letters of consent

We have created a number of letter of consent templates which you can download and customize to your particular situation. The template you need will depend on who has parental responsibility for your child so please ensure that you have read the Who has parental responsibility? section of this article. If you are in any doubt has to who may have parental responsibility, do not hesitate to contact us.

Changing a child's birth certificate

Generally speaking, you are unable to have a birth amended following a change of name because it is considered a historical document which was correct at the time it was issued. Having said that, there are certain circumstances whereby it is possible to have your child's birth certificate amended.

Birth certificate amendments is quite a lengthy subject and outside the scope of this article. If you would like to know more about the subject, please read our dedicated article called Can I change the name on a birth certificate?.

Name changes without consent

When attempting to change your child's name you may find you are unable to get the written consent of everyone with parental responsibility because one party is absent (whereabouts unknown) or is simply refusing to give permission. It is possible for a parent who has custody of a child to change the child's name without the consent of the other parent by applying to your local family court for leave (permission) to make the name change.

When deciding whether or not to grant you leave to change your child's name, the court will take into consideration a number of factors such as the wishes of the child (usually only if they are age 11 or above) and the level and quality of contact between the child and the absent/refusing parent.

If you are attempting to remove the family name link between your child and their father by changing the child's surname from the father's to your own, you will be met with opposition from the court if the father maintains regular contact with the child and makes financial contributions to their upkeep. Instead of completely removing any reference to the father from your child's name, you might consider adding your own name to the existing surname by double-barreling (e.g. Henderson-Jones) it. The court will look favorably upon this move as you are maintaining a link to the child's father while also adding your own surname.

If you wish to apply for leave to change your child's name without the consent of someone with parental responsibility, you should seek independent legal advice from a family solicitor. We are unable to offer you legal advice on specific cases.

To find a family solicitor in your local area, you can visit the Law Society's online directory of Solicitors (opens in a new tab/window).