This has been mentioned before on TW but this link has a great layout showing the process of legally changing your name and checklists for who to notify to change many of your records.


http://www.transwirral.bt[...]on.ikml

Very good Wendy, nice and clear with no legal speak.

To anyone who wishes to legally change their name (for any reason):
Changing your name by Deed Poll is free, whereas a solicitor will charge you for preparing/witnessing a statutory declaration. A Deed Poll can be witnessed by anyone other than your family.
A Deed Poll WILL be accepted by everyone. I now have a new passport and driving licence, my bank account/Inland Revenue/NHS/everything else records are in my new name. I am legally Lucy Diamond.
It needn’t cost you a penny, and is perfectly legally binding. I’ve posted the wording for a Deed Poll in the forums before, but if anyone would like a copy then feel free to send me a message.
Also, with regard to some of the info on the link that Wendy posted, I’ve never written a letter to anyone stating that I am transsexual. I simply tell them that I have changed my name (and title to “Miss”), and send them a copy of my Deed Poll, or the original by recorded delivery if they require it. Only the Passport office should require a letter from your GP or gender clinic (if you don’t already have a GRC) to change your gender on your new passport.
xx

Thanks, Lucy, for clarifying those points. I realize this is a different path than the one you mentioned before. Still, I think the list will be helpful for those wanting to know who to notify. Do you have any comments on that list?

Um, yes Wendy I do…
The list is not a bad guide for who you will need to tell, but most people with half a brain are going to know who they need to inform of their name change - basically everybody.
I’ve mentioned a few of the obvious already, whenever you get a letter through the door or an email sent in your old name that will serve as a reminder of someone you haven’t got round to telling yet.
On the site to which you provided a link, there is a long list of places that they claim will require a letter from your doctor or gender clinic. In my experience absolutely none of these have needed a doctor’s letter. Quite often an email will suffice, if not they will reply with their requirements ie whether they need to see the original Deed Poll or just a photocopy (don’t send out your original unless you have to, and make more than one original, signed in ink, in case one should get lost in the post).
To save yourself money on postage and photocopies etc. email everyone you can first, then phone anyone who has a freephone number; most utilities etc. won’t need anything in writing and will change your details there and then. Then write (and send a photocopy) to everyone else, if they need the original they will let you know, in which case you’ll have to send it out recorded delivery (DVLA will definitely need to see the original, as will the Passport office). Even my bank were happy with a copy, though some credit card companies might not be. I already had a second card on my credit card account in my femme name before I became full time, but you should change the main account name when you change your name and then your current credit rating will be applied to your new name. I think your old name will always appear on your credit history, and there is no way round this. To go on using your old name (if you really wanted to) is not a good idea, and could possibly be construed as fraud. Plus by signing a Deed Poll you are declaring that you will not use your old name again, so you really can’t be selective about who you tell.
It might sound like a lot of work, but if you have a computer and printer then all you need is a basic template for a letter, and just change the relevant details per company, ie account numbers, customer references. I didn’t even have a printer when I did it, so all my letters were hand-written, god that felt so old-fashioned using a pen again.
Anyway, it’s all surprisingly easy and I’ve had no problems, and I think I’ve got round to telling everyone now…