Q. My Gran recently died leaving her estate to me. All she had was £800 in what used to be the South Shields & Sun Permanent Building Society (now the Northern Rock). The Northern Rock have said that they would be willing to transfer these monies to me provided that I sign their standard "statutory declaration" in front of a solicitor. What is a statutory declaration and how much will a solicitor charge me for dealing with this?
A. A statutory declaration is a written statement which allows a person to confirm that something is true for the purposes of satisfying a legal requirement. They are usually used when there is no other evidence of available. Statutory declarations are similar to affidavits, except that affidavits are sworn whereas statutory declarations are not.
In addition to proving entitlement to monies where a person has died, which is the purpose of the declaration you have been asked to sign, statutory declarations are also commonly used to prove such things as a person's identity (where there has been a change of name for example) nationality, marital status or solvency (known as a declaration of solvency).
Anybody who is able by law to administer an oath is also allowed to administer a statutory declaration. Whilst this includes a practising solicitor, it also includes other people such as commissioners for oaths, a justice of the peace and a notary ( a lawyer or person with legal training who is licensed to perform acts in legal affairs). The fee for administering an oath or a statutory declaration is £5.00 (inclusive of VAT). However, if you take the statutory declaration to the County Court it can be administered by a court official free of charge.
