Stage Name On Passport/Bank Account

Safron ... try emailing Alan Brent ... he seems to be well up on the technicalities.

• 14 years ago
• 1

Banks want you to use a Trading As ..account. It is not necessary since you are entitled to have an account in any name you want as long as you can show you are not attempting to deceive anyone.
As for your passport, you can do several things. One is to change your name on it but you must have an affidavit from a solicitor, MP, JP or someone like that who knows you in the name you want to use. However the easiest way, and the one I use, is to have a codicil on one of the pages saying 'this person is also known professionally as......'. This is done at renewal of your passport as long as you make it blatantly clear why and have proof of your professional name (Equity card or some such).
Driving licence is easiest of all. You can change your name any time you like on that with very little reason or proof. But your Equity card or Spotlight page is enough if they ask.
I hope that sorts it out for you.
Alan

• 14 years ago
• 2

My bank told me I had to legally change my name in order to open an account using my usual name. I have never used my first name, I even have a credit card under Sophia Ellis. But my legal name is Anne Sophia Ellis and the bank wouldn't allow me to open an account as just Sophia Ellis. So now I have to go through a whole heap of crud everytime I get a cheque for Sophia Ellis, explaining things every time and them checking up on me. Tis a right pain in the a$$! Grrrrrr

• 14 years ago
• 3

Thanks very much for your help, I'll defiantly get on a do that :)

Saf x

• 14 years ago
• 4

The bank are legally obliged to accept any payments to you in any name providing you can prove you are entitled to it. The clerk you are dealing with is not qualified enough to know that so their advice is at fault, Sophiae. Speak to the manager and show them proof of why they should accept payments and you won't have that problem again. If they refuse or want to charge you a fee for acceptance you have every right to report them to the banking ombudsman who will undoubtably uphold you complaint and force them to do it.
Banks are notorious for their lack of low level clerk training because that way they can charge fees which 90% of the public don't challenge thereby increasing the banks' profits enormously. Don't let them get away with it. You can show them the contracts and Equity card or Spotlight entry to show you are entitled to the payment. They MUST accept that as proof.

• 14 years ago
• 5

I had this same problem, as I am legally Elaine, but all day everyday, and professionally I am Lainy. Long story short it ended up with me demanding an explaination as to why they would happily accept a cheque for 'Liz' if the woman was 'Elizabeth' but not in my case. Just becasue theyre aware of that quite common abbreviation, doesnt make it any more valid than our situation. Use it - it worked! x

• 14 years ago
• 6

I had the ridiculous situation of being told that I couldn't pay a cheque in to my account made payable to MISS H Grady as I was MRS H Grady, this was despite the fact that the cheque even had my postal address on it! The reason, according to the cashier, was that it could have been a cheque for my daughter! I found this perplexing as a. she had no idea whether or not I had a daughter and didn't know her name anyway and b. if I had a daughter with the initial H and the cheque had simply been payable to H Grady her argument fell down completely. I just went to a different branch and paid it in through a machine!

• 14 years ago
• 7

Hi guys,

I've had this problem come up after recently changing banks. I'm now with HSBC and have been advised today by the manager of the Glasgow branch that they won't accept cheques in my professional name unless I return with a deed poll document and change the name on my account, which isn't an option as I receive most of my income from a job in my own name. I explained that I knew this wasn't a legal requirement and that I didn't want to change my legal name to my professional name. Alan, what's the best thing to do in your experience? Any help - such as something "official" looking somewhere online I could print out and take in - would be gratefully received.

Kris

• 14 years ago
• 8

I banked with Barclays for years,they knew I was training to be an actor,they also knew I would be working and being paid under my new equity name.

But even though my old account had been with them for over 20 years they refused to allow me to have two accounts with different names.

I walked into HSBC and withing 10 mins had my new account ,after producing my work contract and Equity card.

So Barclays ,who seem to make bigger and bigger profits out of its low end customers every year,can take a running jump when I hit the big time.

HSBC listened carefully,reasoned that I was an international terrorist or drug dealer and used common sense to allow me my account.

• 14 years ago
• 9