Sunday 26 April 2015

Implied sexism in UK Deed Poll procedures

Who changes their name upon marriage/civil partnership? 

By Laura L. Paterson



I did not change my name upon marriage. However, it was interesting to see just how many people thought that they could question my decision and/or change my mind. Some of the most most surprising reactions to my choice came from loose acquaintances who assumed that they had some sort of say in my decision. For example, an (unmarried, female) extended-family-member-of-a-friend lambasted my husband for not making me change my name. 

There were also logistical issues: my husband and I had to tell our wedding guests that if they wrote us a cheque, it had to be made out to our existing surnames otherwise the bank wouldn’t cash it. Furthermore, when completing legal documentation for a family member’s will, my father asked me to spell my surname. Initially thinking that he was joking – we share the same surname and people consistently spell it wrong – I  began spelling out my surname letter by letter. He stopped me and said ‘no, no, no, how do you spell Mackintosh’? It turned out that, even though my father knew I had kept my surname, he assumed that because I was married I was legally ‘Mrs Mackintosh’. Based on these experiences, I decided to look at how entrenched the idea that a woman changes her name upon marriage is within UK legal procedures.

According to the UK Deed Poll service (2009), ‘Contrary to popular belief, a woman’s surname does not automatically change to her husband’s surname upon marriage’. However, whilst most surname changes in the UK are performed using a Deed Poll, for a woman to change her name to her husband’s does not require this process to take place, as it is seen as the woman choosing to ‘follow tradition’. A Deed Poll is likely to be required though when a woman chooses to double-barrel her name. But what is extremely interesting is that, if both husband and wife are double-barrelling, it is economically sensible for the husband to pay for a Deed Poll to change his surname before the wedding ceremony so that the wife can take this double-barrelled name upon their union without charge/Deed Poll: ‘the cost of a second Deed Poll (for your wife) can be avoided if you change your surname by Deed Poll to your double-barrelled surname before you marry’ (UK Deed Poll Service 2006). However, this practice does not work the other way around. If a wife-to-be double-barrels her surname before the wedding, her husband will still need a Deed Poll to double-barrel his. Thus, the legal system for name changes is asymmetrical. It is not set up for a husband to take his wife’s surname. Further evidence of this asymmetry is that the UK Deed Poll Service has web pages devoted to women changing their names upon separation/divorce/widowhood, but no corresponding pages for men. Thus, there is a clear assumption that men don’t (wish to) change their names.

The UK Deed Poll website harbours lots of assumptions about women and men. For example, it is stated that ‘most women are happy to take their husband’s surname upon marriage’ and ‘you will probably want to change your title to Mrs’ (UK Deed Poll service 2009). Taking the positions of ‘no I’m not happy’ and/or ‘no I don’t want to change my title’ is extremely difficult here as such statements reject the status quo established on the service's website. When discussing males changing their names, it is suggested that a man could take his ‘wife’s surname as one of your middle names’ (not as a surname) and that ‘Such a gesture may be greatly appreciated’ (UK Deed Poll service 2006). This construction of a name change as a ‘gesture’ suggests that a man would only change his name upon marriage to placate his wife who, presumably, has changed her surname.

In terms of civil partnerships (the UK Deed Poll Service has not yet updated its pages to address same-sex marriage), if one person takes the other’s surname, then no Deed Poll is needed (UK Deed Poll Service 2010). When double-barrelling, it is also advised that one person changes their name before the ceremony to avoid the cost of two Deed Polls (2010), although, for obvious reasons, there is no mention here of which partner is expected to change their name before the ceremony. At least here, the laws are gender-neutral. But it is still assumed that ‘Most female civil partners want to change their title from either Miss to Ms or from Miss or Ms to Mrs’ although it is noted that ‘Mrs is traditionally the title used by married women’ (UK Deed Poll service 2010). This presupposes that Mrs is not the only available title to lesbian couples, and implies that the label Mrs may not apply to them in the same way that it applies to heterosexual women. Again, there is no mention of men changing their names, reflecting the asymmetry in English titles (Mr vs. Miss, Mrs or Ms). 

Traditional patriarchal norms are enshrined in current UK surname change processes, with women presented as being much more likely to change their surnames and/or titles upon marriage/civil partnership than men. Such norms can lead to the assumption that all women will change their name upon union. Indeed, it was such as assumption that led to relative strangers objecting to my choice to keep my own surname, whilst not a single person asked my partner why he was not changing his. This related notion - that men do not change their surnames - is clearly reflected in the Deed Poll process. Any men wishing to change their surnames (with the exception of those entering into civil partnerships/same-sex marriage, as discussed above) will have more administrative work to do than women. Thus, there is clearly disparity in how the law treats men and women upon marriage/civil partnership.  


References

UK Deed Poll Service. 2009. A woman’s name change rights and options upon marriage. Online. Available at: http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/AWomansRightsUponMarriage.html. Accessed 10/03/2015.
UK Deed Poll Service. 2006. A man’s name change rights and options upon marriage. Online. Available at: http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/AMansRightsUponMarriage.html. Accessed 10/03/2015.
UK Deed Poll Service. 2010. A couple’s name change rights and options upon a civil partnership. Online. Available at: http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/ACouplesRightsUponACivilPartnership.html. Accessed 10/03/2015.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Laura,

    Fantastic post - I really enjoyed it. I'm a bit curious, however, about the notion that a deed poll is legally 'required' for *any* name change (eg. double-barrelling). District Judge Nasreen Pearce (pretty much the UK's foremost authority of legalities of name change as far as I've been able to tell) says "Change by usage and reputation is the only way in which a name can ..be changed…. A change of name by deed poll and by various other ways… are merely ways of evidencing and advertising the change.” (Change of Name: The Law and Practice, (Great Britain: Wildy, Simmons & Hill, 2010), p. 63.) Is it possible, do you think, that the Deed Poll service is framing the legal situation in a slightly misleading manner? Because that seems to be an even bigger story if so...

    Grateful for any thoughts!

    Sophie Coulombeau (Cardiff University, @smcoulombeau)

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  2. This article is something that will help me with my class assignment. It helped me to better understand another aspect of this topic. Thanks.
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  3. Thanks Sophie!

    I'm so sorry I haven't seen your message until now. I think it would be extremely interesting indeed if the Deed Poll service are over egging the pudding on name changes by perhaps implying in some way that one *must* go through them to change their name. They do note, however, that some banks and other institutions may require a deed poll, so there is some form of hedging. I think it's probably worth taking a closer look at this. I'll mention it to the rest of the Discourses of Marriage team at our next meeting.
    Best, Laura

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