Deed poll and Statutory Declaration Change Name Documents online for £10
What is a Statutory Declaration?
A Statutory Declaration is simply a document; a written statement of fact that is signed under oath in the presence of:
- Solicitor
- Notary of the Public
- Justice of the Peace
- Commissioner for Oaths
- Councillor (Scotland only. Documents on or after 10/12/07)
A Statutory Declaration document must therefore be taken to a solicitors office or a county court in order perform the swearing under oath.
Under the provisions of section 81 of the Solicitors Act 1974, solicitors in England and Wales holding a current practising certificate have the same powers as a Commissioner for Oaths for the purposes of authenticating a Statutory Declaration document.
For change of name purposes the Statutory Declaration document will be accepted providing that the statutory declaration has been signed in the new name. Generally Statutory Declaration name change documents will be signed just with the new name. The document will be stamped by the solicitor as confirmation the document was sworn under oath. The solicitor stamp is the authorisation confirmation.
In some cases there will be a £5.00 charge by a solicitor to authorise your Statutory Declaration document. If you have your document authorised by a Justice of the Peace at a court there will not be a charge for authorising your document.
It is a legal requirement that statutory declaration documents must contain the wording below. If a statutory declaration is created where this wording is not included, it will not be acceptable for example for passport application purposes:
"I (name) do solemnly and sincerely declare that... and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835."
