Change of name: council tax demands an enrolled deed poll. Anyone else?

[Rebecca]

I’ve successfully changed my name and gender with every organisation I deal with, including my bank, utilities and broadband supplier. The most stringent request was for an original deed poll (really just a signed and witnessed statement). But my local council has demanded an enrolled deed poll, which I had to look up on deedpolloffice.com:

<i>If you were born in England & Wales, it’s possible to enrol a deed poll, but this process is completely optional.
Enrolling is a very old-fashioned safe-keeping service, run by the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

It was a way of getting a replacement of a legal document, if you ever lost it. There are other ways of getting a replacement of a deed poll though. We can always do a replacement for you, in fact.

We always recommend against enrolling your deed poll, because —

all organisations — including HM Passport Office and all other government bodies — accept both enrolled and non-enrolled deed polls
enrolling is more complex and you’ll need to involve a solicitor
enrolling is more expensive (it costs £ 42.44 plus solicitors’ fees)
enrolling is much slower (it takes 1–3 months)
your personal details (including old name, new name, and home address) will go on the public record, including on the Gazette website ↗ — so there’s a privacy concern</i>

I’ve refused to do this. Has anyone else found this obstacle?

[Michelle Lawson]

Airlane, being from the US, I’m completely clueless of ‘deed polls’. You may want to look in the Member Directory to see it there is another member in your area you could contact via private message. That is where I would start. Michelle

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