Most name-change documents look forward: a deed poll announces the name you are taking from today. A statutory declaration of name history looks backward. It is the sworn account of names you have already used — made for the person whose change happened years ago, by use alone, with nothing written down at the time.
What It Actually Says
The declaration is short and every sentence earns its place. Made under the Statutory Declarations Act 1835, it opens with the Act’s prescribed formula (“do solemnly and sincerely declare”), then states: who you are and where you live; the name on your birth certificate; the names you have been known by, in order; that the change was not made by any formal document at the time it took place; how it came about — in your own words, because this is sworn and there is no truthful default; and that you have used the new name since roughly the year you give. It closes with the 1835 formula (“conscientiously believing the same to be true”), your signature, and the jurat the officer completes.
Two details people find surprising, both deliberate:
- It is signed in your new name only. The deed that accompanies it is signed in both names — that is a deed’s job. The declaration is a statement by the person you are now.
- It never claims a document existed. A declaration that overstates — that swears more than you were ever asked — is a liability, not a convenience: statutory declarations sit under s.5 of the Perjury Act 1911. Ours swears exactly what the order form collected, and nothing else.
When You Need One
The classic trigger is HM Passport Office: its guidance accepts an unenrolled deed only where it is contemporaneous with the change, and points people without contemporaneous evidence to a statutory declaration — the full story is in our guide to name changes with no deed poll. Banks, pension administrators and foreign authorities reviewing a long paper trail ask for the same thing for the same reason: they want one sworn document that tells the whole story in order.
Why a Deed Travels With It
In our Retrospective Deed Poll pack (£24.99 including VAT), the declaration comes in one pack behind a change of name deed dated now, plus an evidence checklist. The deed gives organisations the familiar instrument their forms expect and fixes the name from today forward; the declaration supplies the sworn history that the deed, being dated today, cannot; the checklist covers HMPO’s separate demand for evidence you use the name. Three documents, one job.
The Swearing
You sign before any solicitor or commissioner for oaths in England and Wales, who completes the jurat — the place, the date, their signature and stamp. The fee is fixed by law at £5 per declaration, inclusive of VAT where payable, paid to them directly. We cannot take the oath ourselves — administering oaths is a reserved legal activity — which is why the pack is posted to you to swear locally. Costs in full, including the magistrates’-court and notary routes, in the cost guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same as a “one and the same person” declaration?
No. That document confirms several spellings all refer to you and expressly states no change of name has taken place. The name history declaration is for a change that genuinely happened. Choosing the wrong one tells the organisation the opposite of the truth — see the one-and-the-same-person guide if your situation is really a spelling mismatch.
I used three names, not two.
Then a two-name declaration would present a history with a missing link — the exact thing that gets applications returned. Contact us and we will prepare your full history by hand.
Who can make one?
Anyone 16 or over declaring their own history. For under-16s, contact us and we will advise on the right route.