Changing my name at 68

I’ve wanted to go back to my birth name since my husband died it’s just the faff of changing every single thing stops me doing it. If you have the patience then do it. I just can’t be bothered.

Yes I changed my name by deedpoll and found it very simple
I just had to alert all professional bodies ie bank, utilities etc and that was it, I never looked back I don’t remember there being any faff at all

If you are changing back to the surname that is on your birth certificate, it's really easy. I changed mine. All I had to do was type a letter for all concerned (bank, building society, doctor, etc) saying that I now wished to be known by my maiden name, and showing my birth certificate.

My DD1 changed back to her birth name a few years ago She was divorced and kept her married name until her son was 18. She said it was straightforward.

I once counted up the people I’d need to inform and when I got to 30+ which included pension providers, car tax and DVLA, land registry, utilities, banks, solicitor, local council, mobile phone, all my online purchase companies doctors,hospital the list grew and grew. I wish I had the patience. Well done those that have.

Go for it, it sounds lovely, a reclamation of part of your identity.

Just go for it! You don’t need to do Deed Poll - you only take a married name as a courtesy, so it doesn’t need a legal change. Just gradually start contacting all the places you need to notify. I changed my name back when I divorced and won’t change it again.

I was unusual - I never took a married name in either marriage.
In fact my son, product of the "alternative" lifestyle I lived in the 70's bears my name, (we weren't married till he was 11)

with my then DH's name as a middle one, with the instructions to go ahead and change it if he wished, but he is now married and his wife wanted to take his name....

I've got the best of both worlds. I used my married name for legal/formal matters but revert to my maiden name as a pen name and for social media and activities related to my writing/speaking life.

I'd love to go back to my birth name but all those needed to be notified scares me!!!

I changed my name in my fifties to my mum’s surname. My original name was my dad’s and I grew to intensely dislike him before he died because of things I found out about him. It was also a name that I either had to spell out to people or it was mispronounced. I have never looked back and so glad I did it.

I changed my name back in the 1980s when I went to uni. I wanted to make a new start after divorce. I did not like my single name so I just selected another one from my family which I liked the sound of.

I got a statutory declaration form from a law stationers and had it witnessed by my doctor. I just stated that I was changing my name and would henceforth be known as XX. Then I wrote to my bank, tax etc and informed them. When my passport expired I used the document to change the name in my passport.

This is called changing your name "by usage" and is completely legal. You can call yourself anything you like so long as its not for a fraudulent purpose. Back in those days deed poll was more complex but I believe its quite simple now and you can do it online.

Also back in those days institutions like universities did not check your ID but simply accepted the identity you presented them with. All my degrees are in my new name. No one was ever interested in what I did before I became a graduate.

I did mine after my divorce as I’m an only child and wanted to honour my dear dad. It’s very easy to do I did my passport and driving licence first. Go for it.

Just to add there were comparatively few people I needed to inform back in the 1980s as I had no credit cards and did not drive. Going forward I simply used the nex name.

PaperMonster2

Just go for it! You don’t need to do Deed Poll - you only take a married name as a courtesy, so it doesn’t need a legal change. Just gradually start contacting all the places you need to notify. I changed my name back when I divorced and won’t change it again.

Agreed.

No reason to have ever taken a married name, you're not property. Just change your name and contact those who must be notified.

Just do it! It's very important to have the right name.
I changed mine some years ago from abroad - so x2 the people to tell, and it was easy even then.
Especially now you can send off the info with a bcc email to most bodies!
I found this list / info page as a starter:
raydensolicitors.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Rayden-Solicitors-Change-of-Name-Deeds-Checklist.pdf

Good Luck!

I changed mine – slightly – when I was 75. I’d always been known by my maiden name, through two marriages, because it’s short and obvious and I’d always been a teacher and children could spell it. For some reason, although my husband’s surname was spelt exactly how it sounded, and pronounced exactly how it looked, somehow nobody could get it right. And I’d always loved the name. I went out with him at 16 (we lost one another for 35 years!) and I used to write my first name against his surname in my rough book at school (as y’do), but when we reunited, I never took it.

A year after his death, I decided to add it to my own surname, American style, no hyphen, and was advised to do it by deed poll. The certificates still make me laugh, because I was forswearing my old name (call it Sue Smith) and promising only to be known henceforth as Sue Smith Paradise (or whatever). B*+*%#% that, I thought: Sue Smith would remain my professional name, as I was now a private music teacher and a musical director.

I also more than doubled the length of my signature!

When I remarried at the age of 65, I decided to go back to my maiden name. I got the wording of the deed of change of name from the gov.uk website, signed (with both my old and new names) a dozen copies in front of two friends who then signed them in turn as witnesses. That was sufficient to satisfy banks, DVLA, solicitors, passport office, HMRC, etc. It was not onerous and cost very little, mostly because I didn't use a solicitor (no need).

I changed my surname twice I didn't think it was a particular hassle. The result being the name you want to be called is worth it.

I was thinking of changing my name to Pussy Galore just for the fun of it.

Cleopatra and Marilyn Monroe eat your heart out.

Our youngest daughter wanted to change the spelling of her Christian name as it was always being mispronounced. My fault. But when she enquired it was so complicated she didn’t bother, so many documents, birth certificate, marriage certificate, bank details, mortgage, driving licence, and those are just the ones that spring to mind. This was some years ago so perhaps it has become simpler. So she has carried on correcting people!

Bazza

Our youngest daughter wanted to change the spelling of her Christian name as it was always being mispronounced. My fault. But when she enquired it was so complicated she didn’t bother, so many documents, birth certificate, marriage certificate, bank details, mortgage, driving licence, and those are just the ones that spring to mind. This was some years ago so perhaps it has become simpler. So she has carried on correcting people!

She could retain the hard - to -pronounce name for official purposes and for social purposes she can choose any name she likes. My sister in law did this with no problem.

I'm the same, reverting decades ago. I still had my teenage passport, so getting a passport in my family name wasn't difficult. I didn't show birth certificate, just wrote to bank etc, though I did wait until I changed jobs, moved etc.

Oh gosh, I really think I ought to do it, thank you! I don’t know what possessed me to change my and my daughter’s names when I got married to her father and she says she prefers my name anyway.
My family name will die with me as neither of my brothers have children. But to spend my remaining years being me again would be lovely!