Changing a child's name without the consent of an absent father who has parental responsibility
It may be possible for a parent who has custody of a child to change the child's name by
Deed Poll without the other parent's consent if the other parent's whereabouts is not known. Usually, this situation arises where a mother wishes to change the surname of her child because the child has the father's surname and the father is now absent through separation or divorce. The mother may have entered into a new relationship (and is using her new partner's surname) or has reverted to using her
Maiden Name.
If this is your situation, you can apply for a Deed Poll and support your application with a letter of consent, which should include information about what reasonable measures you have taken to contact the absent father - for example, writing to the father's last known address and contacting relatives and friends of the father etc. The letter should also include details of the period of absence by the father and examples of the father's lack of interest, for example, no maintenance payments and no Christmas or birthday cards or presents received by your child.
Please note that the issue of a Deed Poll by us - where one of the parents is absent and uncontactable - is no guarantee that all official record holders, e.g. school, doctor, passport office etc, will change your child’s name records. This is because official record holders should satisfy themselves that all those with parental responsibility have consented to the child’s name change. If the consent of an absent and uncontactable parent is not obtained, an official record holder can refuse to change a child’s name records. Our experience is that this rarely happens except with the Passport Office. The official position of the Passport Office concerning the issue of children’s passports where the father has parental responsibility but his whereabouts is unknown, is to require a court order. It may be that your passport application will be successful - certainly many have been in the past - but with a general move towards tighter government control over documents such as passports, it is very likely that you will be asked for a court order.
The only way to guarantee that a Deed Poll will be effective is to obtain a court order permitting the parent with custody to change their child's name without the consent of the absent parent. If your situation is straight forward (for example, the father has been absent for several years; does not make any contact with his children and does not make any financial contribution), you should have no problem getting a court order. Applying for a court order is not difficult so do not be put off from doing what you think will be a daunting experience.
The fee for a Child Deed Poll is £38 (if you apply online or by post). The fee is £5 higher If you apply in person.
If you apply for more than one Deed Poll (e.g. for another child or an adult) at the same time and living at and posted to the same address, the fee for each additional Deed Poll is reduced by £10 i.e. £28 for a Child Deed Poll and £24 for an Adult Deed Poll.
