LOC024 form: statutory declaration by someone who has known the family 10 years
Form LOC024 is a statutory declaration made by a person who knows you and the child, called the declarant. GOV.UK says they declare that you are who your application says you are. It refers to two exhibits: the deed poll and the child's citizenship document.
Fill in the LOC024 form with Wren
How Wren helps with the LOC024
Official forms are written for lawyers. With Wren you do not have to decode this one on your own, and you still follow the court’s procedure.
- Plain questions, one at a timeEach part of the LOC024 becomes short questions in everyday words. Answer at your own pace and come back to it.
- Help beside each questionWhat the question is asking and what the official guidance says about it, in plain English.
- The official form, filled inYour answers go into the official LOC024. You check it, sign it and send it yourself. Nothing goes to the court for you.
- What comes next, kept with your caseWhat usually happens after you send it, with the dates worked out from the published rules.
Time and money
- On your own
- A day or more
- With Wren
- About an hour for most forms
- Solicitor for this form
- £740 to £1,2403 to 5 hours
A solicitor’s time for the LOC024 can run to £1,240. With Wren it is part of £19.99 a month, and it takes about an hour for most forms rather than a day or more.
Times and hours are Wren’s estimates for a typical case, not quotes. Solicitor costs are those hours at £247 an hour, the courts’ guideline rate for a solicitor with over four years’ experience, outside London (GOV.UK, Solicitors' guideline hourly rates (in effect from 1 January 2026)). The guideline runs from £200 to £295 an hour outside London depending on experience, firms set their own rates, and VAT is added on top.
Key facts
- Official title
- Statutory declaration for changing a child's name by deed poll: form LOC024
- Edition
- 01.26 (2 pages: the declaration and the jurat)Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Who cannot be the declarant
- Your husband, wife, civil partner or any other relative by birth or marriageSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Exhibits
- A: the deed poll (LOC022). B: the child's citizenship document, usually the full birth certificateSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Declared before
- A solicitor, a commissioner for oaths or an officer of the Senior Court; the form says a fee is chargedSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Fee in court
- GOV.UK gives £14 if the declaration is made in courtSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Who uses the LOC024
The declarant completes and declares it. The form says they must have known the child's parents for 10 years or more, must not be related to them, must be a Commonwealth or British citizen and must be a householder.
When it is used
With every application to enrol a child's change of name, whether by post or online.
Before you start
- The declarant's full name, address and occupation.
- The section of the British Nationality Act 1981 that makes the declarant a citizen.
- The names of the parent or parents who made the deed.
- The child's full new and old names, and the document of the child's citizenship.
How to fill in the LOC024
Open each part for what it asks and how to answer it. In Wren, each part is a few plain questions, and your answers fill in the form.
The declarant
Their name, address and occupation.
Citizenship
Whether they are a British, British dependent territories or Commonwealth citizen, and under which section of the British Nationality Act 1981.
Knowing the family
How many years they have known the child's parents and the child, the parents' names, and the child's new and old names.
The citizenship document
The document shown to the declarant as exhibit B, usually the child's full birth certificate.
Declaring it
The declarant takes it to an authorised person and declares it there. Page 2 is completed then.
Prepare your LOC024 with Wren Family
Wren Family turns official forms into short, plain-English questions you can answer at your own pace. You check everything before you send it: nothing goes to the court for you.
Get startedFree for 14 days, no card. Then £19.99 a month, with your money back within 14 days if it’s not right.
What happens after you send it
The declaration goes with the deed poll, the affidavit of best interest and the exhibits. A judge decides whether the change of name can be enrolled.
Common mistakes
- Asking a relative to be the declarant.
- Filling in page 2 in advance. It is completed when the declaration is made.
- Forgetting a cover sheet (LOC028) for each exhibit.
Common questions
What if I have not known anyone for 10 years?
GOV.UK says you must include a witness statement explaining why, and the declarant must still complete this form.
Where these facts come from
These are the official rules and pages this page is based on. They are listed so you can check a detail for yourself; you do not need them to use Wren. They are outside Wren and open in a new tab.