How to write a sworn statement
A sworn statement — a statutory declaration, an attestation, an affidavit in its simpler forms — is a page on which you say something is true and sign your name under it. Its force comes entirely from that signature, and so does its risk.
Give your full identity, state the facts you are declaring in the first person and in plain sentences, say who it is for if it is addressed to someone, then sign and date it. Declare only what you know first-hand.
Fill in the free templateStep by step
- State who you are
Full name, address, and — where the recipient checks it — date and place of birth. A declaration from an unidentified person is worth nothing.
- Give the statement a subject
One line that says what this is about: a statement of residence, of income, of a lost document. The recipient files it by that line.
- Declare the facts, in the first person
Short sentences, one fact each, with dates. Write what you saw, did or know yourself, and nothing you have only been told.
- Sign, date and name the place
Sign in your own hand or with the editor's signature tool, add the town and the date, and attach a copy of your ID if the recipient asks for one.
Declare only what you know first-hand
The value of a declaration is that a named person is answering for it personally. That value disappears the moment it contains something you were told, assumed or reconstructed after the event.
If you need to record something a third party told you, say so explicitly and name them. A declaration that quietly presents hearsay as knowledge is the kind that falls apart when someone checks it.
A false declaration is a criminal offence
In most legal systems, signing a false statement to obtain a right, a benefit or a document is a crime in itself, quite apart from whatever the declaration was used to get. Sentences are real, and prosecutions for this are not rare.
This matters most where the declaration is convenient: a statement of residence for somebody who does not live there, an income figure rounded in the useful direction. Write what is true, or do not write it.
What it can and cannot replace
A declaration is often accepted where an official document would be slow or impossible to obtain, and many administrations explicitly allow it. Some will accept it only for facts they can later verify against their own records.
It never overrides a document that does exist: where a birth certificate, a payslip or a land registry entry is the proof, a statement saying otherwise is not an alternative, it is a contradiction.
Frequently asked questions
Does it have to be witnessed or notarised?
It depends entirely on who is asking. Many administrations accept a plain signed declaration; courts and some formal procedures require it to be sworn before a solicitor, commissioner or notary. Ask the recipient before you sign.
Can I write a declaration about someone else?
You can declare what you personally know about a situation involving someone else — that you have hosted them, for instance. You cannot declare facts in their name; that is their signature to give, not yours.
Can it be sent as a PDF by email?
Usually yes, and most administrations now prefer it. Keep the signed original, since a few will still ask to see it.