Terms of Service

1. Agreement

By using surnameswitch.com or the Surname Switch tool, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the service. We may update these terms from time to time; the current version is always the one published here.

2. What Surname Switch is, and what it is not

Surname Switch is an information and admin-assistance tool. It helps you work out a likely path, builds an ordered checklist of organisations to notify, drafts notification messages, and can prefill official forms for you to review, sign and lodge yourself.

Surname Switch is help only. It is not advice. Nothing on this site or in the tool is legal, financial, taxation, migration or other professional advice, and it must not be relied on as such. We are not a law firm, a government body, or your agent. Information about laws, fees, processes and organisations is general in nature, may be incomplete or out of date, and varies by your circumstances. If you need advice for your situation, consult a qualified professional or the relevant official body.

3. Your responsibilities

• You are responsible for the accuracy of the details you enter.
• You are responsible for reviewing everything we generate before you use it, including checking it against each organisation's current requirements.
• You send your own messages, attach your own documents, and lodge your own forms. We do not submit anything to any organisation or government body on your behalf.
• You are responsible for obtaining and providing any documents an organisation requires, such as an official marriage certificate or change of name certificate.
• You must use the service lawfully and only for your own genuine name change or one you are authorised to manage.

4. Payments and refunds

Paid plans are described on our pricing page and are one-off payments processed by Stripe. Government fees (for example a Births, Deaths and Marriages fee) are never paid to us; you pay those directly to the relevant body. If something goes wrong with your purchase, contact us at [email protected] and we will work with you in good faith. Nothing in these terms limits any refund or remedy you are entitled to under the Australian Consumer Law.

5. No warranties

The service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error free, complete, current, or that any plan, message, form or outcome it produces will be accepted by any organisation or achieve any particular result.

6. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Surname Switch and its operators are not liable for any loss, cost, delay, rejection, or damage of any kind arising from your use of, or reliance on, the service, whether direct, indirect, incidental or consequential. This includes, without limitation, anything arising from inaccurate or out-of-date information, a message or form that an organisation does not accept, or a missed step or deadline.

Australian Consumer Law. Certain consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law cannot be excluded. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, right or remedy you have under that law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where our liability cannot be excluded but can be limited, our liability is limited, at our option, to resupplying the service or paying the cost of having it resupplied. Subject to the rights you have that cannot be excluded, our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us for the service.

7. Third parties

The service links to and relies on third parties (such as banks, government bodies, Stripe, and our technology providers). We do not control those parties, and we are not responsible for their content, availability, decisions, fees or conduct. Your dealings with them are governed by their own terms.

8. Referral programs

Our celebrant and creator referral programs are offered at our discretion. Codes are issued by us, must not be used for self-referral or abuse, and payouts are made quarterly against a valid invoice. We may change, pause or end a program, or withhold a payout where a code has been misused.

9. Intellectual property

The Surname Switch name, brand, site and tool are our property or used under licence. You may use the service for your personal name change. You may not copy, scrape, resell or build a competing product from our content without our permission.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Australia and the state or territory in which we operate. You agree to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts there.

11. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email [email protected].