The ‘One and the Same Person’ Affidavit

There are times when documents issued by various Government institutions inconsistently spell details or components of our names. The repercussions are many for such a simple mistake. Some Government officials and officials may reject various documents if one’s name is spelled inconsistently. It is possible to get it corrected with the Name Correction affidavit, although, it may be easier and simpler to just make an affidavit saying that the individual is indeed the person being mentioned in a certain document or various documents. That is the purpose of the affidavit for ‘One and the Same Person’. So when does one need to make this affidavit? There are all sorts of institutions when one would need to make an affidavit to handle various name discrepancies in documents. Often one’s name differs in certificates awarded by educational institutions. This can also be seen in the case of a missing middle name or last name. This affidavit also applies when an initial in the name is missing or not expanded to full form. Name change after marriage, divorce, change in religion, numerological reasons are also common happenings.

Procedure for making ‘One and the Same Person’ affidavit

The procedure to make this affidavit legally valid is no different from that of validating other affidavits.

Step 1 – Drafting the Affidavit – The Affidavit for ‘One and the Same Person’ should include the the original name of the deponent, the changed name of the deponent, the document in which the change occurs, the deponent’s relevant personal details and a declaration stating that there is no fraud or misrepresentation in the affidavit.

Step 2 – Printing and Signatures – After drafting the affidavit, the deponent must print it on Stamp paper of recommended value and swear before an official who has the authority to witness and validate oaths. The deponent and the official who witnessed the oath must sign the affidavit. It is then considered legally valid.

‘One and the Same Person’ Affidavit Vs. Name Correction Affidavit

A Name Correction Affidavit is created by an individual whose certificates or official documents have been printed with an incorrect or wrong spelling or version of his/her name. A name correction affidavit is similar to a ‘One and the same person’ affidavit in the sense that both affidavits are primarily created when there are different or wrong versions of the name printed on these certificates and documents.

The difference between the name correction affidavit and the ‘One and the Same Person’ affidavit is seen when it comes to the validity of different versions of the individual’s name. For example, a name with three words may be expanded and given in its entirety in one document, whereas two of the words may have been abbreviated in another document.

To better illustrate the difference, consider the following example- Rahul Sunil Nayak

If in a certificate or official document, the name Rahul S.N. or R.S.Nayak is printed, it may be declared to be one and the same person using the ‘One and the same person’ affidavit. All three versions of the name are correct since they only differ in the expansion.

On the other hand, if Rahul’s name is printed as ‘Rahul Sunil Naik’ in his certificate, it is better to choose a ‘name correction affidavit’ instead of ‘One and the same person’ affidavit, even though the preferred outcome may be achieved using any of the affidavits.