In another thread, we got on to name changes, and since it's raised a few more questions at my end, I thought I'd put them down in a new thread instead.

I was just about to apply online to change my name by deedpoll when my friend pointed out that a GRC supposedly acts as an official name change as well. I've been living as male for going on five years, but I don't know what proof I could provide because I've been using my official name for things like utility bills and the bank and my drivers license. I mean all I really have is my psychiatrists reports, and those are asked for in another section of the form.

What should I expect throughout the process?

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"We burn the fat off our souls... Hemingway said that..."

you simply go to a solicitor and ask them to draw up a 'statutory declaration' sign in in their company and they witness it and give you some copies ask for a few certified copies (not photocopies) as you may have to send these here and there

thats all there is to it

then later when you get around to the GRC you simply enclose one of these documents - for proof on name change - and you have to have a further stat dec that is included in the paperwork to promise you will live as the GRC sex and that you are not married and so on - they will ask you again in the document if you WANT to have the name listed in your stat dec (or another) this will be the one listed on yoru BC - hope this helps xxx

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Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." (Jean Paul Sartre, 1943)

cost of a stat dec at a soliciotrs - no more than 30 quid - cost of a witness signature around £10 x

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Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." (Jean Paul Sartre, 1943)

Oh I see.

I saw on the FTM Network that they have a 'statutory declartion' generator, and they also say if I take my own and have the solicitor sign it and do whatever needs to be done to it, then it will cost me less.

Also, what is the part about the witness? Does it need to be a solicitor or a civil servant?

I should've read up more on the legal side of things, but I've concentrated mainly on medical information.

So basically I need TWO stat dec forms - one for my name change and one for my gender identity?

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"We burn the fat off our souls... Hemingway said that..."

you can do that but you have to still pay a solicitor to witness it so i dont think its worth it incase there is a mistake

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Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." (Jean Paul Sartre, 1943)

you usually have to provide one stat dec for the gender clinic as part of your RLT

The second will be almost 3 or four years later in the GRC

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Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." (Jean Paul Sartre, 1943)

a stat dec should only cost £5 to get witnessed by a solictor, this is the correct charge. anyone who asks for more than that is ripping you off so go elsewhere

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forum moderator

£5? I'll be phoning around then. Hell, I'm not too proud to haggle.

Let me just get one thing straight, what do I get with my GRC? I mean, it recognises that I'm living 100% as male, but does it act as an official name change, and will it enable me to apply for a new birth certificate with my new details on?

Thanks for your help again, guys and girls.

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"We burn the fat off our souls... Hemingway said that..."

The £5 fee for witnessing the declaration is fixed by statute.

Solicitors make up their money by drawing up the document for you - though there is of course no reason why you can not take the already completed document to them for signature, and so pay only the £5.

what do I get with my GRC

Do not confuse a STAT DEC WITH A GRC

they are completely different

A STAT DEC is just that you make a declaration that you will be ...

A GRC is a change of Birth Certificate details handled by government depts

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Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." (Jean Paul Sartre, 1943)

i think you can only get a grc if youve been LEGALLY male for 2 years. you need to have already legally changed your name to get a GRC, so you cant use a grc as a name change.

I don't think you do have to have officially changed your name. I called the GRC panel themselves and told them I've been living as male for 5 years but never changed my name, just used a 'known name' and not my official one. They said so long as I could provide proof to that it should work in my favour.

Also, on the press for change website, it states that a university letter would be sufficient.

I think it'd be a little ridiculous to reject someones application on the terms of not changing their name by deed poll, especially since I have doctors reports dating way back.

Read up a bit more I.M, realise that a GRC (providing you're from the UK) ties in with the birth cert. thing.

After reading up, I'm still not 100% about GRC acting as a name change, but I'm inclined to think it does.

Either way, I read that you can appeal it.

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"We burn the fat off our souls... Hemingway said that..."

I find this very confusing. Assuming you get your new birth cert with new name on it, you are still going to have to change the name on your passport, drivers license, bank cards etc. All the places that you would if you had a statutory declaration. Normally you would give them a copy of your stat dec, but in this case you'd have to show them a copy of your new birth certificate instead. And that is going to confuse the hell out of them. Why would you do that instead of just changing your name now with a statutory declaration?

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yeah i dont really see the point of getting the grc before a name change, i think you'd have to get some kind of name change document anyway to sort out the other stuff as there's no easy way to prove the new birth certificate belongs to the person on your bank account, etc. you dont really need the GRC for anything other than getting married anyway, so it seems pointless to wait for that just to do stuff like change your bank account. you can change your gender on stuff with a doctors letter that any doctor can write (your gp, etc). i got one before i was on T or anything. all the info is in the FAQ on http://www.ftm.org.uk, including a sample statutory declaration you can use and a sample doctors letter.

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Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." (Jean Paul Sartre, 1943)