Statutory Declaration for Lost Documents

A statutory declaration formally records the facts you declare, and making a false declaration can be a criminal offence. The requesting organisation decides whether it needs that declaration and what wording or additional evidence it requires. It is not automatically the correct route for every lost document.

This is not a replacement certificate. Birth, marriage and death certificates are reissued by the General Register Office or a local register office (National Records of Scotland and GRONI in Scotland and Northern Ireland), and a lost British passport is replaced by HM Passport Office. Use the declaration only where the receiving body has asked for one.

Most official documents do. Use the issuer’s process first; a declaration is for when the recipient asks for one, or where the law provides for it, as with unregistered title deeds and pawn tickets.

For any other document, such as a degree certificate, ask the organisation that issued it what it needs before you prepare anything.

A lost-document declaration does not recreate your signed deed or certify a historical copy. Ask the receiving organisation whether it needs evidence of the earlier deed, a newly completed document or a declaration with particular wording. A fresh deed must use its actual signing date and may not solve a historical-evidence requirement.

Follow the lost deed poll replacement guide to compare archive records, unsigned downloads and fresh documents. Our PDFs can be re-downloaded free for 12 months, but do not contain signatures added after printing. If a suitable fresh deed is accepted, the free deed poll template is an option. Do not backdate new signatures.

Gather the recipient's instructions, document type, any reference number and the facts of the loss. Check its wording, supporting-evidence and date requirements before booking a witness. For a lost British passport, follow HM Passport Office's own reporting and replacement process; do not assume a separate declaration is required.

Free official forms exist for some losses — see free statutory declaration forms. For an unpaid penalty charge (forms PE3, PE2, TE9 and TE7), use the free court forms.

A clear description of the document, how you came to hold it, when and how it was lost, what you did to find it and what you will do if it turns up. Keep each point to facts you can stand behind.

1. The document: its type, who issued it, the name shown on it, and any reference number and issue date you know.
2. Your connection to it: that it was issued to you or that you held it, and since when.
3. The loss: the date or approximate date, where you were and what happened. If it was stolen, give any police reference.
4. The search: where you looked and who you asked.
5. If it turns up: what you will do. DVLA, for example, says you must return an old driving licence if you find it after applying for a replacement.
6. Supporting evidence: copies you still have, marked as exhibits. For lost title deeds, HM Land Registry asks for evidence of possession, such as a recent utility or council tax bill.

Knowingly making a false statement in a statutory declaration is an offence under section 5 of the Perjury Act 1911 in England and Wales, punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment. HM Land Registry also warns that a dishonest statement made for gain or to cause loss may be fraud, with a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Book a witnessing appointment with a solicitor, Commissioner for Oaths, notary or JP. Bring photo ID and proof of address. Sign in front of the witness — never beforehand — and the witness completes the jurat. In England and Wales the Commissioners for Oaths fee is £5 plus £2 per exhibit; drafting or advice is charged separately.

The fee comes from the Commissioners for Oaths (Fees) Order 1993 and includes VAT where payable. In Scotland, sign before a notary public or Justice of the Peace; the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service lists statutory declarations “for when a pawn ticket has been lost” among the documents JPs sign, currently free by appointment, and notes that JPs do not compose or supply forms. See who can witness a statutory declaration and the full statutory declaration guide.