Daily Archives: August 20, 2010

DEED POLL PART TWO

August 20, 2010 By in AUDIO, WORDS Tags: , , , 27 Comments

I managed to speak to Claudia in the end. I recorded the call on my phone, but I’m not sure how to transfer the file to upload it on here. It’s probably quite easy (EDIT: now uploaded, see below). In the meantime, this is a transcript of the conversation:

Deed Poll Office receptionist: Hello, Deed Poll Office, how can I help?
James Ward: Hi, can I speak to Claudia please?
Deed Poll Office receptionist: Yes, who’s calling?
James Ward: It’s James Ward
Deed Poll Office receptionist: Bear with me a second.

[PUT ON HOLD]

Claudia: Hello, is that James?
James Ward: Yeah, hello. Hi, is that Claudia?
Claudia: Hello, it’s Claudia speaking. Thank you for returning my call. We received your email…
James Ward: Yeah.
Claudia: …saying that you require a name cha– Am I right in thinking that you want a name change document…
James Ward: Yeah.
Claudia: Although you don’t intend to change your name?
James Ward: Yeah, I want, I want to change, well effectively to change my name from James Michael Ward to James Michael Ward.
Claudia: With exactly the same spelling.
James Ward: Yep.
Claudia: So effectively there’s no change.
James Ward: Erm, well, no.
Claudia: Right. You can’t do that.
James Ward: Can I not?
Claudia: No. Because it’s a name change document… you are… it says in the document that you are relinquishing your previous name, so the fact there is no change whatsoever means you are not doing that.
James Ward: Right. OK. So it’s not possible.
Claudia: No, it’s certainly not possible. To have… I mean, that’s why it’s called “change of name”. You need to have some sort of change.
James Ward: Right.
Claudia: And, it can’t…otherwise, it would just be a certificate of your name, which is what your birth certificate is, effectively.
James Ward: OK. So, I guess if I changed my name to something else and then changed it back…
Claudia: If you changed your name to something else and… why do you want this?
James Ward: Erm.
Claudia: I’m just trying to understand why you…
James Ward: Well, you know, when you’re given your name as a child – a baby…
Claudia: Yeah.
James Ward: You don’t get to have any say in the matter. So now I’m just kind of like… I want my name to be something I’ve chosen rather than something given to me.
Claudia: Right. I understand that…but most people, if they’re a bit affronted by the fact that their parents have chosen their name for them and they want to chose it themselves, they will choose a slightly different name or a completely different name.
James Ward: Yeah.
Claudia: There would be some sort of difference.
James Ward: Yeah.
Claudia: But you’re…
James Ward: I happen to agree with the choice that my parents made…
Claudia: So, you agree with the choice your parents made for you name, but you want to have a certificate saying…
James Ward: Yeah, that I made the choice myself.
Claudia: That you chose it.
James Ward: Yeah.
Claudia: You want a certificate saying that you agree with your parents.
James Ward: Yeah. It’s like if you were baptised, and you have confirmation when you’re sort of thirteen or whatever, it’s the same sort of thing but with a name.
Claudia: I mean, if you… if you wanted, literally, a certificate of your name, the only way to do it would be to… change your name to something different and then do another deed poll changing it from that name…
James Ward: Back.
Claudia: Back to the name you want to be. But you wouldn’t be able to present it to anyone. I mean, it would… you know, because presumably you wouldn’t want to actually go round and apply for a new passport and everything for a name that you don’t actually want and then have to show them the new deed poll going to the name that you want, the name that you are at the moment.
James Ward: No. That would…
Claudia: I mean…
James Ward: That would be a waste of time.
Claudia: Yeah. I mean, really wouldn’t it be cheaper just to go on Photoshop and create yourself a little certificate saying that you’d like…
James Ward: But…
Claudia: I know it sounds daft, but that’s effectively what we’d be doing for you. I mean, it’s not possible, no-one’s going to be able to do it because of the fact you can’t say that you’re relinquishing your name and there certainly, as far as I’m aware, aren’t companies out there which cater for someone saying “I really like my name and I agree, you know, with the choice that my parents have made”.
James Ward: Maybe it’s a service you could offer.
Claudia: To be honest… our company’s been running ten years and we’re the largest issuer of deed polls in the UK and I have never encountered someone like you who doesn’t really want a name change, they just want to say they agree with their parents and they have effectively chosen it for themselves. You’re quite unique, I don’t think we’d be able to market it to many people.
James Ward: I thought there’d be loads… I thought…
Claudia: I mean…
James Ward: Maybe I’ll go on Dragon’s Den.
Claudia: I mean, there… there just really isn’t much we can do. If you don’t want to change…if you were changing one letter of your name we’d be able to do a deed poll, it’s not a problem.
James Ward: Right.
Claudia: Because that is technically a name change then. But, for you to not change your name at all…
James Ward: Yeah…
Claudia: There’s nothing we can do for you.
James Ward: Alright, well thanks for looking into it anyway…
Claudia: No, that’s fine, I mean, just bear with me one second…

[PUT ON HOLD]

Claudia: Hello?
James Ward: Hello.
Claudia: I was just checking, because your…because we were ready to process your application, we have already charged your card but we will issue a refund for it…
James Ward: Right.
Claudia: Later on today. Unless you want to rethink the name change and change it by one letter or something which we can certainly do and issue a deed poll for you, but we can’t issue a document if you’re not changing in the slightest.
James Ward: Yeah. OK. Well, if you just issue the refund and then if I change my mind, I’ll do a new application.
Claudia: That’s not a problem, we’ll do that for you later on today.
James Ward: OK.
Claudia: OK, sorry about that. Thanks for getting in touch though.
James Ward: Thanks.
Claudia: Thank you. Bye.
James Ward: Bye.

I am still, and remain, James Ward. But it is still not legally recognised that this is a name I have chosen for myself. According to Wikipedia, all you need is a piece of paper with the following wording signed and witnessed:

Change of name deed by [former name] of [address]
I have given up my name [former name] and have adopted for all purposes the name [new name].
Signed as a deed on [date] as [former name] and [new name] in the presence of [witness's name, signature and address].

It feels like cheating to do it myself like that though. There needs to be some sort of ritual, some ceremony. Something. Not a document I’ve put together myself in Word and printed out. That’s not enough. I might go to a solicitor and see if they’ll do it for me, it will cost a lot more, but for that reason, they are more likely to agree.

EDIT: I’ve worked out how to upload the sound file, which means that I wasted quite a lot of time typing all that out and you’ve wasted quite a lot of time reading it. Sorry about that.

DEED POLL

August 20, 2010 By in WORDS Tags: , , , 11 Comments

I’ve been thinking about my name quite a bit recently, not just because I’m trying to become the most fictional man in the world by getting people to name characters in their books after me, but also because I’m quite self obsessed.

The other day, in the pub, we were talking about names and the inconvenience of having an unusual or commonly misspelt name. Often, when I’m on the phone, people mis-hear my name and think I am called “James Wood”, I normally let this pass because it’s not worth correcting them, although sometimes I will have to give them my email address, which contains my surname and at that point, I have to make sure they don’t get my name wrong. Sometimes I’m honest with them. “Yes, you said my name wrong earlier, but I couldn’t be bothered to correct you.” Other times, I pretend it was just a simple mix up, usually putting the blame on myself.

Sometimes a name which has served you perfectly well suddenly becomes problematic. I was at university with a girl called Julia Roberts. When she was young, that probably wasn’t a problem, but as she got older, along came an actress with the same name and so whenever anyone found out what she was called, they would always say “Oh, like the actress” and she would have to reply “Yes, like the actress”. It must happen all the time. Think of all the poor innocent Harold Shipmans and Fred Wests out there, wandering the streets, cursing their evil namesakes. There are probably hundreds of Harry Potters out there too, wishing that JK Rowling would die in a pit of gravel. Of course, there’s a chance that if a character named after me suddenly became successful, I would be similarly inconvenienced, but at least I would have the comfort of knowing this wound was self-inflicted, that I was the actual James Ward that the fictional James Ward was named after.

The obvious solution, if your name suddenly starts causing you problems, is to change your name by deed poll. It only costs about a tenner. You can apply online.

There are certain restrictions in place which limit what you are allowed to change your name to. It has to consist of at least one first name and one surname, it must be possible to pronounce, it can only consist of letters of the alphabet (no numbers or symbols or punctuation marks), it can’t be offensive and it can’t imply you have any title or qualification (you can’t change your name to “Doctor” or “Viscount”).

I read the restrictions carefully. I then applied to change my name. I got an email confirming the details of my application:

Thank you for your instruction to prepare your Deed Poll using our Standard delivery service. The name change you have requested is as follows:

From: James Michael Ward (Ward is the surname)
To: James Michael Ward (Ward is the surname)

You are given your name as a baby, you have no choice over what you are called. I wanted to change my name to my own name to say that my name is not just something I was given, it is something I have chosen. If you are baptised as a baby, you can later be confirmed. “Yes, I agree with my parents’ decision to raise me as part of the Christian faith, no matter how obviously flawed the Christian faith is.” I view my decision to change my name to my own name as much the same thing.

I got an email back from the deed poll office:

Dear James,

Thank you for your deed poll application. However, we note you have not provided us with a name change on your application form. You have given your current and new name as James Michael Ward.

If your application is to provide you with a replacement deed poll or to provide you with a deed poll as documentary evidence of a former name change, please let us know your former name (which is probably your birth name) because we need this name for the deed poll documentation we will be issuing you.

Please note, if your application is to provide you with documentary evidence of a former name change, we can modify your deed poll to include a declaration that states you have been using your current name for all purposes since a particular date (the year you started using the name James Michael Ward). This declaration, for which a £4 fee is payable, will explain to those you show your deed poll to that it is not for a recent name change. If you would like this modification made to your deed poll, which we recommend, please let us know when and how your name was originally changed to James Michael Ward, for example, in 1998 by usage or by deed poll.

Please respond by clicking on your email software’s Reply button. This will ensure our email is included in your response.

Regards,

Claudia
Deed Poll Officer
UK Deed Poll Service

I replied:

Hi Claudia,

Thanks for getting in touch.

As stated on my application form, I wish to change my name from James Michael Ward to James Michael Ward.

According to the section of your website headed “Are there any restrictions on names?” (http://www.ukdps.co.uk/AreThereAnyRestrictionsOnNames.html), it states:

1. Name restrictions

We will not accept an application for a name that:

  • does not include at least one forename and one surname;
  • is impossible to pronounce;
  • includes numbers or symbols;
  • includes punctuation marks – although you can have a hyphen to link forenames or surnames (for example, if you want a double-barrelled surname) and an apostrophe in the case of surnames like O’Brien;
  • we consider vulgar, offensive, blasphemous or unsuitable;
  • may result in others believing you have a conferred or inherited honour, title, rank or academic award, for example, a change of first name to Sir, Lord, Laird, Lady, Prince, Princess, Viscount, Baron, Baroness, General, Captain, Professor or Doctor etc

The list mentions no restriction on changing your name to your own name, therefore I would like to proceed with the deed poll application.

Many thanks,
James

I’ve just received a voicemail from Claudia. She asked me to give her a call back so “we can talk over the phone about your, well, your non-name change”. I’ve just rung back, but she wasn’t at her desk. I’ll try again later.

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