Deed poll

Deed poll

A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding only to a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an active intention. It is, strictly speaking, not a contract because it binds only one party and expresses an intention instead of a promise.

The most common use is a name change through a deed of change of name (often referred to simply as a deed poll). Deeds poll are used for this purpose in countries including England and Wales, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand (until September 1995),[1] Hong Kong and Singapore. In England and Wales a deed poll can also be used to change a child's name, as long as everyone with parental responsibility for the child consents to it.[2] The child's parents execute the deed poll on the child's behalf. In some other jurisdictions, a person may simply start using a new name without any formal legal process. The usual requirements are that the new name must be used exclusively and that the change was not made with intent to defraud. In Australia, name change was formerly accomplished by deed poll but now is done by completing a Change of Name form.

Another common use is to partition land into different sections. For example, a piece of land may be partitioned (or carved out) by a deed poll into Section A and the Remaining Portion thereof. This form of deed poll is commonly used in Hong Kong.

Origin of the term

The term "deed", also known in this context as a "specialty", is common to signed written undertakings not supported by consideration: the seal (even if not a literal wax seal but only a notional one referred to by the execution formula, "signed, sealed and delivered", or even merely "executed as a deed") is deemed to be the consideration necessary to support the obligation. "Poll" is an archaic legal term referring to documents with straight edges; these distinguished a deed binding only one person from one affecting more than a single person (an "indenture", so named during the time when such agreements would be written out repeatedly on a single sheet, then the copies separated by being irregularly torn or cut, i.e. "indented", so that each party had a document with corresponding tears, to discourage forgery).

References

  1. ^ Evidence of Identity Standard. NZ Department of Internal Affairs, June 2006, Version 1.0, ISBN 0-478-24462-2, page 121.
  2. ^ National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux - Change of name, retrieved 29 June 2010.

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • deed poll — n. A deed made by and binding a single party. The Essential Law Dictionary. Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008. deed poll a deed in one part and signed only by the granter. The …   Law dictionary

  • Deed poll — (Law) A deed of one part, or executed by only one party, and distinguished from an indenture by having the edge of the parchment or paper cut even, or polled as it was anciently termed, instead of being indented. Burrill. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • deed poll — n [U and C] a legal document signed by only one person, for example in order to officially change your name ▪ Steve changed his name by deed poll to Elvis Presley Smith …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • deed poll — ► NOUN English Law ▪ a legal deed made and executed by one party only, especially to formalize a change of a person s name. ORIGIN so named because the parchment was ‘polled’ or cut even, not indented as in the case of a deed made by two parties …   English terms dictionary

  • Deed poll — Ein Deed poll (Plural Deeds poll), oder genauer: Deed of change of name, ist ein zum Nachweis einer Namensänderung in einigen Ländern gebräuchliches Dokument, das nicht von offizieller Stelle ausgegeben wird, sondern, sofern es den formellen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Deed Poll — For the legal document of the same name, see deed poll. Deed Poll is a German made film, 2004, starring Barbara Kowa, Rainer Maria Wittenauer and André Schneider, directed by Ingo J. Biermann. External links Deed Poll at the Internet Movie… …   Wikipedia

  • Deed poll — Un deed poll (pluriel: deeds poll) ou, plus précisément, un deed of change of name, est un document de la common law anglaise prouvant un changement de nom. Ce document n est pas établi par une autorité publique ou officielle, mais par celui qui… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • deed poll — [16] Contrary to what the term’s modern pronunciation might seem to suggest, with the main stress on its first element rather than its second, a deed poll is a sort of deed, not a sort of poll. It originally referred to a legal document made and… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • deed poll — [16] Contrary to what the term’s modern pronunciation might seem to suggest, with the main stress on its first element rather than its second, a deed poll is a sort of deed, not a sort of poll. It originally referred to a legal document made and… …   Word origins

  • deed poll — A deed having a straight edge at the top, as opposed to an indenture A deed poll was used when only one party was involved in an action, e. g. when a person declared a wish to be known by a different name. Deeds commonly now have straight edges… …   Big dictionary of business and management

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