I'm looking into changing my name though deedpoll and the forms and shit. It seems simple enough just write a declaration, fill the (3) forms... but it says I need to provide evidence of who I am which can be a passport or birth certificate.
I only have a birth certificate.... am I litrally supposed to put my actual -only- birth certificate in the post???
What if it gets lost? Like the fuck am I supposed to do then???
Maybe I'm just over-thinking. Am I just overthinking?
"Tess stop it ur over thinking."
Me: "but if I lost my birth certificate I will like litrally just fade outta existance.... and like get deported."
*This is a joke.
@jiub yeah. I've also been ill for the last few days and I keep getting deadnamed by someone and I just had like the most shower thought-y thoughts in the shower.
And ugh just yeh.
@jiub It's my dad. It's weird he acknowledges my name but like calls me Tess like 10% of the time....
When my sister has been calling me Tess the entire time and he just hasn't picked up on it. Idk.
On terf island, one can just print out the deed poll form, sign and get it witnessed, that that's job done.
@Tesseks Assuming you haven't already, you should consider whether you need to enrol your deed poll in the first place. The services I've interacted with have never required an enrolled deed poll.
Unenrolled deed polls are literally just the text on a bit of paper.
@N_RON_Evolved I looked into that on the gov website and it said places might not accept it.
The places I would need to get it changed at would be the bank and benefits office (which is run by the government).
I mean if I just do an unenrolled one and change it at a government department then like there can't be any issues after that right?
@Tesseks IIRC, I changed my name at HMRC over the phone. I'm not familiar enough with the responsibilities of HMRC to know whether that's relevant to you.
My bank asked for some proof of ID in my new name. Always best to ask, preferably at a branch with an actual human being, rather than a clueless tier 1 support worker/artificial idiot.
@Tesseks Ignoring the birth certificate issue as it seems people have already pointed out replacements etc.
Also - sorry, none of this may be of any help.
Why/where do you want to change your name?
Bank - walk in and ask them.
Work - tell them.
Friends - should already know.
Police - could already issue an arrest warrant for "Tesseks".
Whatever name you're known as becomes your name. Start using it and let the paperwork catch up at a later stage. It is 'only' a passport or driving licence.
@HowardGees it's litrally just for the bank, Universal Credit and provisional drivers license.
The benefits office does call me Tess and stuff. But just needs a deedpoll to change anything online.
@Tesseks You can pick* the name that is displayed on your bank card and statements. The bank will still know your original name but only in the background.
*Sensibly, they might not let you be Tom Cruise.
Michelle-Tessiah
Eric Bender
jiub 
Julia Rez
N_RON_Evolved
Howard Gees