Updating details of shareholder (name change)

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

My wife and I are now married and I need to update her details in the company register, share certificates etc. and I want to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. I have a few questions:

* As a company secretary and shareholder she has an entry page under the register of shareholders and secretaries - do I just cross the old name out and put her new surname?

* Share certificate - do I just write CANCELLED across the old certificate and reprint a new one with her updated name on it? Does everything else on the certificate stay the same or should I increment the certificate number and change the issue date on it to the date of the name change? If the latter, do I need to do anything else to reflect the change in certificate number (e.g. in the register of share transfers which references the original certificate number).

* Presumably she will need to contact HMRC herself to update her name on their records for the purposes of self-assessment - but what do I do about payroll? The first payroll for the new tax year hasn't been run yet.

* I have updated her details as company secretary with Companies House which was straightforward - my understanding is that I do not need to update her details as a shareholder until I submit my next annual return, is that correct?

Am I missing anything else?

[Martin at NixonWilliams]

My wife and I are now married

Congratulations

* As a company secretary and shareholder she has an entry page under the register of shareholders and secretaries - do I just cross the old name out and put her new surname?

Yes, this will suffice.

* Share certificate - do I just write CANCELLED across the old certificate and reprint a new one with her updated name on it? Does everything else on the certificate stay the same or should I increment the certificate number and change the issue date on it to the date of the name change? If the latter, do I need to do anything else to reflect the change in certificate number (e.g. in the register of share transfers which references the original certificate number).

Yes, a new certificate should be issued and the old one should be cancelled. I wouldn't worry too much about the certificate number etc. - You must simply ensure new certificates are issued.

* Presumably she will need to contact HMRC herself to update her name on their records for the purposes of self-assessment - but what do I do about payroll? The first payroll for the new tax year hasn't been run yet.

Yes she should contact HMRC directly, sending a letter is normally the easiest way. All you need to do is amend the name on your payroll software, once you submit your next FPS the new name should match the records held at HMRC.

* I have updated her details as company secretary with Companies House which was straightforward - my understanding is that I do not need to update her details as a shareholder until I submit my next annual return, is that correct?

That is correct. You could file the return earlier than usual if you are keen to make the change sooner rather than later.

Am I missing anything else?

Not that I am aware of, from your company's point of view anyway.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Martin, thanks for the response, its much appreciated. I've updated her name in the registers and re-printed her a new share certificate with her new name (for future reference, would I simply do the same for both of us in the event of a change of address?). I've left the date/certificate number the same as before and simply re-signed it.

According to HMRC, as she is registered for self-assessment, she is supposed to update her name that way so she has logged into self-assessment and submitted a change of name. Apparently it takes a few days to update.

I use FreeAgent to run my payroll which supports RTI, so I've updated her name in FreeAgent's payroll profile. I'm assuming this should be enough but I'm waiting for confirmation from FreeAgent that this is the case.

Hopefully that's it...still lots of other name changes to do but we're still waiting for the marriage certificate.

[Martin at NixonWilliams]

Martin, thanks for the response, its much appreciated. I've updated her name in the registers and re-printed her a new share certificate with her new name (for future reference, would I simply do the same for both of us in the event of a change of address?). I've left the date/certificate number the same as before and simply re-signed it.

According to HMRC, as she is registered for self-assessment, she is supposed to update her name that way so she has logged into self-assessment and submitted a change of name. Apparently it takes a few days to update.

I use FreeAgent to run my payroll which supports RTI, so I've updated her name in FreeAgent's payroll profile. I'm assuming this should be enough but I'm waiting for confirmation from FreeAgent that this is the case.

Hopefully that's it...still lots of other name changes to do but we're still waiting for the marriage certificate.

No problem, happy to help.

My understanding is that a new share certificate is not necessary for a change of address, though I don't see any problems doing it if you wish to anyway.

Yes, changing the name via self-assessment should sort it. By the time your FPS submission is made the name should have been changed at their end, I believe each submission does a check against the NI number so it should match by that point.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Yes, changing the name via self-assessment should sort it. By the time your FPS submission is made the name should have been changed at their end, I believe each submission does a check against the NI number so it should match by that point.

I re-read the HMRC page and as it wasn't 100% clear, I decided to also fill out their online change of details form as it claimed to not only update her self-assessment record but also her PAYE and NI records too. I couldn't see any harm in submitting both so I did. Thanks again.