I changed my name at Christmas and I'm still coming across things that need updating…
The Statutory Declaration (SD) was cheap, £5 and no charge for notarised copies. Felt a bit silly standing up in the solicitors office reading out aloud as required but hey ho.
The banks (current account, savings and the mortgage) were fine and quite easy to do – just take a copy of the SD into the bank and they faxed it to head office.
Driving Licence was free – although I had to get a new photo which they charged £20 for. Incidentally, I drove under my old name for 20 years without incident – one week after changing to Rachel, I got flashed.
Don't forget to change the name on the car itself – I did and now need to explain why the person the car is registered to no longer seems to exist…
Passport was expensive – £80.50 including returning the SD and Doctor's letter by secure post. And the bl**dy doctor charged £20 for the covering letter! Really quick though – only a week.
Apple were a right pain with my MobileMe account – their system won't let you change your primary email address and that is the only one you can send emails from on an iPhone. grrr. New account opened as the old one expired now.
Check a few things at work – in my case I needed to make sure the Life Insurance was aware but that won't apply in your case. Finance need to know to change your payslips and inform the Tax Office, though.
Also worth talking to Experian and sending them a copy of your change of name – keep your credit history making sense.
Not done the mobile phone, house deeds at the Land Registry or broadband yet.
Good things: It's only 2 months in and very rarely do people accidentally use my old name in conversation. Can't be easy for them to remember.
Bad things: Junk mail – absolutely nothing you can do about it arriving and it is a constant reminder…
It does get easier and, to be honest, it's not that hard to change name. Lot's of work, yes…
Good luck with the rest of it!!