Statutory Declarations in Singapore
A statutory declaration is a written statement you formally declare to be true. Which officer you need depends on where it is going, and this is the thing people most often get wrong.
A statutory declaration is a written statement you formally declare to be true. Which official you need depends on where it is going, and this is the distinction people most often get wrong.
Inside Singapore, or outside it
A declaration for use in Singapore usually needs only a Commissioner for Oaths, which is the cheaper of the two. One that will be used abroad needs a notary public.
The confusion nearly always comes from forms drafted overseas that ask for “a Commissioner for Oaths or equivalent” without allowing for the fact that you are signing in a different country. If the document is leaving Singapore, assume a notary is required and check with the receiving party if you can.
Exhibits
Where the declaration refers to attached documents, bring those too. Exhibits are marked and referred to in the declaration, and doing that after the fact means redoing the declaration.
Do not sign in advance
As with any document that is witnessed, the declaration is made and signed in front of the officer. A pre-signed form has to be redone.
How we help
How we help
Tell you which officer it needs
Notary public or Commissioner for Oaths. This turns on where the document will be used, it is the commonest thing people get wrong, and it costs nothing to ask.
Take the declaration
You attend, the officer satisfies themselves you understand what you are declaring, and you make and sign the declaration in front of them.
Deal with the exhibits
Attached documents are marked and identified as part of the process. Doing that afterwards means making the declaration again.
Check the drafting before you swear it
A declaration is made under statute and there are consequences for declaring something untrue. If the wording says more than you can stand behind, better to find that out now.