What is a Stautory Declarations?

A statutory declaration is a formal statement made affirming that something is true to the best knowledge of the person making the declaration. It has to be signed in the presence of a solicitor, commissioner for oaths or notary public.

Statutory declarations are generally used to satisfy a legal requirement or regulation when no other such evidence is available.

Statutory declarations need to be completely truthful and accurate so a solicitor other than the one acting for you in a legal matter will deal with the statutory declaration to ensure that it is valid on the grounds of being impartial.

Examples of how statutory declarations are used

• By people who wish to change their name as a method of legally adopting their new name so they can use it on documents such as passports and driving licences
• By financial institutions to transfer money to people legally entitled to deal with the estate of a person who has died, such as executors of a will
• Declarations of identity, nationality or marital status when documentary evidence is unavailable
• By company directors declaring solvency when going into voluntary liquidation
• Affirming the provenance and nature of goods for export or import
• Declaration statements of originality of an item as part of a patent application.

Sources: https://www.boysandmaughan.co.uk/site/library/privateclient/statutory_declaration_solicitor.html