“One and the Same Person” Statutory Declaration

Banks, universities, pension providers and passport counters match names exactly; a middle name missing here or a married surname there can stall an application for weeks. A statutory declaration resolves it formally: you state the name on each document, declare they are one and the same person, and explain the difference — a witnessing solicitor then confirms your identity.

When your records are correct but show your name in different forms, and the organisation asking wants a formal statement linking them. If a record is simply wrong, correcting it is usually the better fix; if you want a new name, you need a change of name document instead.

Sources: HM Passport Office names evidence guidance, GOV.UK: correct a birth registration and FCDO: documents for British people abroad, all checked 24 September 2026.

It should name each document, give the name exactly as shown on it, state that every version refers to you, and explain how the difference arose. Keep to facts you know, in date order.

1. Opening: your current full name, address and occupation, followed by the prescribed 1835 Act words.
2. One paragraph per document: what it is, who issued it, its date or reference number, and the name printed on it.
3. The link: a statement that each of those names refers to you, one and the same person.
4. The reason: for example, a middle name omitted when a certificate was issued, or a surname used after marriage.
5. A name history, where needed: HM Passport Office asks for every name used, when each was used and, if known, the circumstances of each change.
6. Exhibits: a reference to each copy attached, marked A, B and so on.

Sign in the name you use now. HM Passport Office’s guidance says staff must not accept a change of name declaration without the 1835 Act legal statement or one signed only in the old name. Knowingly making a false statement in a statutory declaration is a criminal offence.

HM Passport Office accepts statutory declarations as evidence of a change of name, provided the declaration includes the 1835 Act legal statement, is signed in the new name and is witnessed by an authorised person. It also asks for evidence that you use the name.

Unless an exception applies, its caseworker guidance needs 2 separate pieces of evidence for a passport in a new name: one showing that you have changed your name, and one showing that you use the new name for all official purposes, including the part of the name that changed. Where you cannot show every link between names with documents from the time, it asks for a statutory declaration covering all the names you have used. Read the passport name-change guide before you apply, and see who HM Passport Office accepts as a witness.

In England and Wales, a Commissioner for Oaths charges £5 for the declaration plus £2 for each exhibit that must be marked, inclusive of VAT where payable. A declaration with two exhibits therefore costs £9 to witness, on top of our £9.99 PDF.

That fee is set by the Commissioners for Oaths (Fees) Order 1993. In Scotland, sign before a notary public or a Justice of the Peace; the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service says JP signing is currently free, by appointment. In Northern Ireland, nidirect’s guidance on parking penalty declarations lists a solicitor, Commissioner for Oaths, Justice of the Peace, notary public, or a resident or lay magistrate. Drafting advice, certified copies, notarial work and apostilles are priced separately.

A deed poll changes your name going forward; a “one and the same” declaration explains an existing discrepancy without changing anything. If you actually want to adopt a new name, use a deed poll for £14.99 or a name-change statutory declaration instead.

Never pre-sign. Book a witnessing appointment, bring photo ID, proof of address and the documents you are exhibiting, sign in front of the witness, and they complete the jurat. Read who can witness a statutory declaration for the full rules.

Ask the organisation first whether it wants the original declaration or a copy, and whether the exhibits must be certified copies. If the declaration will be used abroad, ask whether it also needs an apostille, and arrange that after the witnessing.