Affidavit Template

An affidavit is a sworn statement or a statement given under oath. This means that you write this document sharing some information that you swear is the truth.

The person who makes the sworn statement is called the affiant. When they make the affidavit, they are asserting that all of the information contained within the sworn statement is true to the best of their personal knowledge.

The affiant must sign the sworn statement and have a notary witness when they sign it. The notary asks for identification to confirm the affiant’s identity, watches the affiant put a signature on the document and stamps it with their notary stamp and signs their own name.

When you make a written statement in an affidavit, that statement is treated the same as if you had testified before a court after swearing an oath. Lying on this document, like lying in court, could have legal consequences since it is perjury.

Affidavits can be used if you are asked to provide information to the court about a legal issue. You can draft one using the template created by Forbes Advisor to provide the requested testimony to the court and indicate that you are swearing, under penalty of perjury, that the details you are providing are accurate.

You may also use this type of document in a wide variety of other situations. Here are some other situations when you might use one:

• If an official document has to be modified
• To verify someone’s employment
• To verify someone’s identity
• If there are questions about who a child’s legal father is
• If you must provide financial details to someone, such as to your future spouse prior to drafting a prenuptial agreement.

These are just a few of many situations when an affidavit is appropriate. If you are asked to make a sworn statement in writing, then this is a situation where you create a notarized document.

Forbes Advisor’s affidavit template can be customized to meet your needs in a particular situation if you are being asked to attest to something under oath.

In order to write an affidavit, you need to provide the requested information and swear to the truth of it. For example, if you are making a sworn statement verifying that an employee has worked for you for two years, you should start by looking back in your employment records to confirm how long they have worked for you.

You can then use the Forbes Advisor template to draft the document swearing to that employee’s work history or attesting to whatever other facts you’ve been asked to address. Once you have created a document that spells out the relevant facts, you need to get a notary. You can find notaries at banks and credit unions who notarize a document for free if you are a customer or you can pay a professional notary.

The notary will ask for your identification to verify that you are the person who you claimed to be and will ask you to sign the sworn statement of fact that you have created. The notary will then sign and stamp the form on which you made your attestations, putting their seal on it and confirming that there was no fraud in its drafting or signing.

The affidavit can then be filed with the court if it was created in connection with legal proceedings or can be submitted to the appropriate agency or entity that requested the information in the first place.

Because it can be complicated to write a sworn statement and because you are under oath when you write one, it can be helpful to consult with an experienced attorney before writing or signing this type of document. Your attorney can provide you with advice on how to draft this document as well as on the legal implications of creating a sworn statement on the issues that you are addressing.