What is an Affidavit?
An affidavit is a written statement that allows the person making it to present evidence in court or other legal proceedings. The person making the affidavit must take an oath (a sworn commitment based on religious belief) or make an affirmation (a secular sworn commitment) that the contents of the affidavit are true and correct. It is generally an offence to swear to or affirm false information.
Our role is to witness the affidavit and administer the oath or affirmation. We do not attest to the authenticity or truth of the content of the evidence or information.
How can I get an Affidavit?
The precise form that an affidavit takes is dictated by the relevant Commonwealth, state or territory legislation under which the affidavit is made or the proceedings in which the evidence contained in the affidavit is to be relied on. An affidavit that has not been drawn up correctly may not be legally effective. It is your responsibility to provide the document/s in the correct form and to provide any additional witnessing/administering instructions which should have been provided to you. Please obtain clear instructions from your legal advisor or the entity requiring the affidavit before taking it to us. We do not provide legal advice on these types of documents and take no responsibility for the correctness of the form of an affidavit.
Check with your legal advisor if you have doubts.
Amending an affidavit
Affidavits must not be amended once they have been sworn or affirmed. If an affidavit needs to be corrected, either a second affidavit clarifying the matter in question to the first affidavit must be made, or the first affidavit must be re-sworn.
Preventing fraud
In the case of an erasure, any words or figures written over the erasures are to be written in the margin and the erasure and the words written in the margin initialled by the deponent and the consular officer.
When there are large spaces at the end of statements or between them, the client should be prompted to draw a Z-shaped line through these to ensure nothing can be inserted later. Statutory Declarations in particular often require this.