Evidence for Name Change

Situation

Your business has changed its name and you do not know which documentation you must supply to ISC for the name change to be reflected in the Land Registry. If titles or interests are held with a ‘convenience’ or ‘other’ type client number, changes completed in the Corporate Registry may not be recorded in the Land Registry. If the client number is a ‘cobra linked’ client number, no additional changes in the Land Registry should need to be completed.

Solution

To support a request to change a name associated with a client number, ISC must be provided with clear evidence from an official government source that one name has replaced another name. A copy of a Corporate Registry certificate may be enough for our purposes. We do not always require the articles to be attached, as these may run to many pages and provide little or no additional information.

The evidence will be clear from a corporate certificate if:

  1. Both the “old” and “new” name appears on the face of the certificate
  2. The reason for the name change appears on the face of the certificate (amalgamation, etc.).
  3. The certificate has been signed and sealed by an official of the registry, or if the certificate is otherwise “certified.”

The seal on a corporate certificate is sufficient if its outline is visible. It is not necessary to make out all the words on the seal. However, if the document does not appear to have a seal at all, the certificate of a lawyer or notary will be required.

Where the corporation has changed its name several times, we require Corporate Registry certificates showing each name change. The articles need not be supplied if the criteria set out above are satisfied. However, if the Corporate Registry certificate alone cannot satisfy the criteria, you must provide further documentation. This may be the articles themselves, a portion of the articles or other documentation from the Corporate Registry.

If you are unable to obtain documents from Corporate Registry, the Land Registry will also accept:
  • a Court Order.
  • a citation of legislation. You may cite the Act and the applicable section, provide an excerpt from the Act, or a copy of the Act itself.