• A court case or something else

  Choose a court case to add the court, the jurisdiction, the case number and the parties. Choose something else and the affidavit skips them.

• Plaintiffs and defendants

  Name up to three of each. They appear in the caption with the right singular or plural wording.

• Who is swearing

  The affiant's name, and optionally their city, county and state. The affidavit is titled with their name.

• Your facts, in your words

  Write up to five facts, one in each box. They appear as numbered paragraphs under their own heading. Nothing is suggested for you.

• A sworn closing for your state

  The affidavit ends with a place for the affiant to sign and a block for the notary to swear them in, with the state and county. California and Florida have their own versions of that block.

• Blank lines where you leave a gap

  If you do not know a court, a case number or a name, the line stays blank for you to complete by hand rather than being guessed.

• A lawyer reviews it before it is used

  Your answers are prepared into a draft and reviewed by a qualified lawyer, rather than handed back to you as a finished form.

An affidavit is a written statement of facts that the person making it, the affiant, swears is true. It is signed in front of a notary public or another officer who can administer an oath. People use one in court cases, to confirm something for an agency or a bank, or whenever a document needs someone to stand behind a fact.

The builder starts by asking what the affidavit is for. For a court case it also asks for the court, the case number and the parties. For anything else it goes straight to who is making the statement and the facts. The facts are yours: nothing is suggested or filled in, and the questions only remind you to write facts rather than opinions.

What an oath must say, and what a notary's certificate must contain, differ by state. The draft ends with a sworn-before-me block for your state. A lawyer checks that block, and that the statement suits its purpose, before anything is signed, and the draft says so rather than leaving you to assume it is complete.

Not sure? Talk to an attorney about your situation first.

These are separate documents, for different jobs.

• Affidavit of CorrectionA sworn statement correcting an error in a record or document.View document
• Affidavit of residencyA sworn statement of where you live.View document
• Affidavit of heirshipA sworn statement of who a person's heirs are.View document
• Notarization guidanceWhen a document needs notarising, and how.View document

• When a lawyer or court asks for a witness statement under oath
• When an agency asks you to confirm in writing something you cannot prove with a document
• When someone who saw an event wants to record it while it is fresh
• When a fact in a document needs correcting and someone must swear to the correction

• Affidavit of residencyA sworn statement of where you live.View document
• Affidavit of CorrectionA sworn statement correcting an error in a record or document.View document
• Certificate of Proof of Execution by a Subscribing WitnessA witness's sworn proof that a document was signed.View document
• Invitation Letter for a VisaInvite a visitor to stay with you for a visa application.View document