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 simply referred to 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, some States and territories of Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.[1]
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, where the development and redevelopment of land is rapid and flourishing.
Origin of the term
The term "deed", also known in this context as a "specialty", is common to signed written agreements 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 contract between the parties to the deed. "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 irregularly torn or "indented" so that each party had a document with corresponding tears, to discourage forgery).
References
- ^ However, in some jurisdictions, you may simply start using a new name without any formal legal process being required. The usual requirement is that the new name must be used exclusively and that the change was not made with the intent to defraud. Such jurisdictions include Australia where name change by deed poll is possible, and Scotland where there is no system of deeds poll.
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