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Separation and your name

Changing your name while separated

You don’t have to wait for the divorce to go back to your old name. A divorce takes months, and the paperwork most organisations ask for doesn’t exist until it’s final. A deed poll works now, with everyone, whether you’re going back to your maiden name or choosing a new one.

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What banks and the Passport Office really ask for

Checked against GOV.UK, HM Passport Office guidance and the banks’ own published requirements. Sources are listed at the end.

Updated: 30 October 2026
On this pageQuick answerCan you do it?Your passportYour bankThe quickest orderChildren and laterFAQs

The quick answer

Yes, you can change your name while you’re separated. You don’t need a divorce, your spouse’s permission or a court. GOV.UK’s route for going back to your old name relies on a decree absolute or final order, which you won’t have until the divorce is final, so most people use a deed poll.

The Passport Office has its own route for going back to a birth name that doesn’t need divorce papers, but banks set their own rules, and many build theirs around divorce papers or a deed poll. A deed poll works for all of them, today. Ours is £14.95 with free tracked delivery.

The basics

Can you change your name before the divorce?

Yes. In England and Wales you can change your name whenever you like, whether you’re married, separated or divorced. Your spouse doesn’t need to agree or sign anything, and it has nothing to do with the divorce itself.

What changes is the paperwork. GOV.UK says you may be able to go back to your original name by showing your marriage certificate and decree absolute, or your civil partnership certificate and final order, and that some organisations won’t change your name back without a deed poll. While you’re separated, you don’t have the decree or final order yet. GOV.UK: change your name by deed poll

What you wantWhile separatedAfter the divorce
Back to your maiden nameA deed poll, or the Passport Office’s birth name route for your passportYour certificates and decree absolute, though some organisations still want a deed poll
A completely new surnameA deed pollA deed poll
A new first name as wellA deed pollA deed poll
Keep your married nameNothing to doNothing to do
Your passport

What the Passport Office needs

If you’re going back to the surname you were born with, HM Passport Office’s guidance treats it as reverting to your birth name. It asks for your full birth certificate, your marriage or civil partnership certificate, a signed statement that you’re reverting and evidence that you use your birth name. It doesn’t ask for a divorce document. HM Passport Office: change of name applications

If you’re choosing a name that isn’t your birth name, the Passport Office treats it as a new change of name and asks for a change of name document such as a deed poll, plus evidence that you use the name. GOV.UK: other name changes on a passport

Your bank

What banks ask for when you’re separated

Banks set their own rules, and many of their routes for going back to a maiden name rely on divorce papers you won’t have yet. Here’s what some of the big ones publish:

BankGoing back to your old nameWith a deed poll
NatWest and RBSSeparated but not divorced: marriage certificate and birth certificateA deed poll or statutory declaration
Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of ScotlandAfter a divorce: divorce papers, your marriage certificate and one more documentAn unenrolled deed poll with photo ID in your new name
Tesco BankYour decree absolute plus evidence of your maiden nameThe original deed poll or a certified copy
Coventry Building SocietyBirth or marriage certificate, a signed letter and your decree absolute or a deed pollA deed poll with ID in your new name
Virgin MoneyMarriage certificate, decree absolute or deed poll, plus proof of your previous nameA deed poll, plus proof of your previous name

Spot the pattern: without a decree absolute, a deed poll is the document that works almost everywhere. Lloyds Banking Group wants photo ID in your new name alongside an unenrolled deed poll, so update your driving licence first. Our bank by bank guide covers 20 banks in full.

Start again in your own name

Order by 6pm, Monday to Friday, and we process your deed poll the same day. Posted free with Royal Mail tracking.

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Step by step

The quickest order to do it in

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Back to your maiden name or a new one. Add extra copies so several organisations can update at once.

Sign it in front of two witnesses

Two adults who aren’t close relatives and don’t live with you. Your spouse shouldn’t be one of them.

Driving licence first

It’s free with the DVLA, and it gives you photo ID in your new name, which some banks want to see with a deed poll.

Then your passport, bank and everyone else

Our free checklist and change of name letter make the rest quick.

The DVLA asks for your original documents and won’t accept photocopies. GOV.UK: change the name on your driving licence

Worth knowing

Children, and when the divorce comes through

Your questions answered

Frequently asked questions

Yes. You can change your name with a deed poll at any time, and you don’t need your spouse’s agreement or a divorce document.

No. Only you sign your deed poll, with two witnesses. Your spouse doesn’t need to agree or sign anything.

For your passport, HM Passport Office has a route using your birth and marriage certificates, a signed statement and evidence that you use the name. Many banks and other organisations want divorce papers or a deed poll instead.

Yes. A deed poll doesn’t expire, and you don’t need a new one when the divorce is final.

Only with the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility, or a court order. It’s a separate step from changing your own name.

Most UK banks list a deed poll. Some, including Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, want photo ID in your new name alongside an unenrolled deed poll, so update your driving licence first.

Check the detail

Sources for this guide

Guidance and reference pages

The official rules this guide is based on, checked in October 2026.

Continue your name change

Related guides

Changing your name after divorce

Reverting, keeping or choosing a new name.

Keeping your married name after divorce

Yes you can, and here’s what to know.

Changing your name with your bank

What 20 UK banks ask for.

Ready when you are

Your name, back on your terms.

A deed poll works today, with everyone, divorce or not. Prepared from your details, checked by a person and posted free for £14.95.

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