Name Change Affidavit in India: Format, Steps and Gazette

• Your old name and new name, exactly as they will appear in documents.
• Your father’s or spouse’s name, age and full address.
• The reason for the change (marriage, divorce, spelling correction, personal choice, religious conversion).
• That you will be known by the new name for all purposes from now on.
• Documents the old name appears on (Aadhaar, PAN, passport, certificates) if you want them listed.
• A verification clause at the end, signed before a notary or oath commissioner.

1. Draft the affidavit and print it on non-judicial stamp paper of the value your State requires (or e-stamp it).
2. Sign it before a notary or oath commissioner, with identity proof.
3. Publish the change in newspapers — commonly one English and one local-language daily circulating where you live. Keep the original pages.
4. If you need a Gazette notification (passport, government records and many institutions ask for it), apply to the Department of Publication for the Gazette of India, Part IV, or to your State Government Press for the State Gazette, with the affidavit and newspaper cuttings.
5. Update Aadhaar, PAN, bank, passport and other records using the affidavit, newspaper ads and Gazette copy.

For a change of surname after marriage, many offices accept the marriage certificate with an affidavit; others also ask for the newspaper advertisement or Gazette. Check what the specific office asks for before you start, and make one affidavit that covers every document you will need to update.

Affidavit Maker asks you the questions in a chat and produces a filing-ready A4 PDF with the deponent and verification blocks, in English or Hindi. Name change, address proof, lost document and date of birth affidavits are among its templates. Print it on stamp paper (or attach the e-stamp) and sign it before the notary.