What does it mean to ‘execute a change of name deed’?

You must ‘execute’ a deed correctly, otherwise it will not be valid.

Execution has 3 parts:

1. Signature
2. Witnessing
3. Delivery

Signature

You must sign the deed in front of at least 1 witness. (See our information on witnessing a deed for more details).

Note: The UK passport office accepts deeds that have been signed in front of 1 witness. Some other organisations may require 2.

Witnessing

Your witness (or witnesses) then need to sign the form to confirm they witnessed your signature. This is called attestation.

You can find out more about signing deeds and how many witnesses you need, here.

Delivery

‘Deliver’ a deed by making it clear that you intend it to be legally binding.

In years gone by, a person proved their intention that a deed was binding, by actually handing it over to someone else. The phrase ‘delivered’ originates from this.

However, you can show your intention by something you say or do; for example dating the deed or sending it to the passport office.

Can a deed be signed electronically?

The passport office will not accept a deed that has been signed electronically.

Whilst legally you can sign most deeds electronically, the passport office currently will not accept an electronically signed change of name deed.

You can find more information on the .gov website.

Other organisations including HM Land registry will usually accepts electronically signed deeds.

However, we recommend that you sign and your witnesses your change of name deed in wet ink.

Summary

For a change of name deed to be valid, you must execute it correctly as follows:

• Before you begin, check you have the right number of witnesses;
• Sign your name, or direct someone to sign for you, in front of your witness(es);
• Your witness(es) sign to confirm they have witnessed your signature;
• Date the deed.

For more information on evidence required by the DVLA or the Passport Office to change your name please follow the links on this page.

We also send full instructions on how to execute your change of name deed with our digital download service.