Why We Can't Charge £5 for an Oath or Statutory Declaration
A number of enquirers call us asking to sign a statutory declaration or oath for £5. It's a specific figure, and it's not made up — but it doesn't apply to notarial work, and it's worth explaining exactly where it comes from.
Where the £5 Figure Actually Comes From
The £5 fee is a fixed statutory fee set by government order for solicitors and commissioners for oaths taking affidavits and declarations. It was set at £5 per person (plus £2 per exhibit) in 1993, and it has not been updated since. It's a genuine fee — just not one that applies to notaries.
The confusion is understandable. Solicitors, commissioners for oaths, and notaries can all administer oaths and witness statutory declarations, and to someone outside the profession, those roles can look interchangeable. They aren't. The £5 fee was set for a specific statutory role — commissioner for oaths — governed by a fee order that has simply never been revisited in over three decades. It was never intended to apply to notarial acts, and it doesn't.
Why a Notary's Fee Is Different
A notary is a senior lawyer specialising in international and cross-border legal matters, appointed by the Court of Faculties under Royal Authority and regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. That's a different professional standing to a solicitor acting as a commissioner for oaths, and the fee reflects it — the time, training, and personal legal liability of a notary, not a 1993 fee schedule written for a different role.
Our Fees
We charge a flat fee based on the type of document, not on where it happens to be going:
£135 for a personal document
£150 for a commercial or property matter
This is the same whether the document is destined for use in the UK or overseas — there's no separate international rate, and no discount for domestic use. Every notarial act involves the same process regardless of destination: verifying your identity and legal capacity, checking the document, preparing and attaching the notarial certificate, and making a permanent entry in our notarial register — work we remain personally and professionally liable for, backed by mandatory indemnity insurance.
In Short
If you've been quoted £5 for an oath or statutory declaration, that figure applies to a solicitor or commissioner for oaths acting under a specific 1993 fee order — not to a notary. As notaries, our fee reflects our time and standing as senior international lawyers, and it's the same regardless of whether your document is staying in the UK or travelling abroad.
Sheikh Najam is a Notary Public with Staple Inn Notaries, based in Central London. He was appointed by the Court of Faculties under Royal Authority and is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He provides notarial services across Chancery Lane (WC1), Farringdon (EC1), the City of London (EC4), and Soho (W1), with same-day and mobile appointments available for clients who cannot easily travel to the office. Sheikh Najam specialises in cross-border corporate and property matters. Trained across Common Law, Civil Law, and International Law systems, he is equipped to handle notarial matters destined for any jurisdiction worldwide.
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