If an affidavit is false, the person who signed it can be prosecuted for perjury, a federal felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine as high as $250,000. That is only the start. The court can strike the affidavit, order the filer to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees, dismiss their claims or defenses outright, and reopen any judgment that was obtained through the fraud. Licensed professionals can lose their licenses. The consequences reach the signer, anyone who pressured the signer, and sometimes the lawyer who filed the document.
Criminal Charges for Lying Under Oath
An affidavit is a sworn statement, and knowingly putting false information in one is perjury. Under federal law, perjury is a felony carrying up to five years in prison.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1621 – Perjury Generally The maximum fine for a federal felony is $250,000 for an individual.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine A separate federal statute covers false declarations made specifically before a court or grand jury and carries the same basic five-year maximum.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1623 – False Declarations Before Grand Jury or Court
Every state has its own perjury statute as well. Most treat it as a felony, though some classify less serious false statements as misdemeanors. Penalties vary, but the principle is the same everywhere: lying under oath is a crime, and a conviction leaves a criminal record on top of whatever happens in the underlying case.
When a Wrong Statement Is Not Perjury
Not every inaccuracy triggers a prosecution. The federal statute requires that the false statement be made “willfully” about a “material matter” the person does not believe to be true.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1621 – Perjury Generally Both of those words do real work.
An honest mistake, a misremembered date, or reliance on information you genuinely believed was accurate is not perjury. Prosecutors must prove you knew the statement was false when you signed. The “material” requirement matters too. A false statement only counts if it is the kind of claim that could influence the outcome of the proceeding. Courts describe the test as whether the false statement has a natural tendency to influence the decision being made. Lying about your home address on a financial affidavit likely qualifies. Getting the color of a car wrong in a way that has no bearing on the case likely does not.
If you realize an affidavit you signed contains an error, the worst move is to ignore it. Correcting it quickly can show you lacked the intent perjury requires.
What Happens to the Case the Affidavit Was Filed In
Criminal prosecution is only one track. A false affidavit can wreck the civil case it was submitted in, and that damage usually arrives faster than any criminal charge.
The Affidavit Gets Thrown Out
A judge who finds that an affidavit contains false statements can strike it from the record so it no longer counts as evidence. For affidavits filed in connection with summary judgment, federal rules specifically authorize the court to act against a party who submits one in bad faith.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment The collateral damage is often worse than losing the single document. Once the judge decides a party is dishonest, every other piece of their testimony and evidence gets viewed with suspicion.
Sanctions and Attorney’s Fees
Courts can order the filer to pay the other side’s expenses, including the attorney’s fees spent exposing the falsehood. That is an explicit remedy under the summary judgment rule for bad-faith affidavits.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment More broadly, Rule 11 authorizes sanctions against anyone who files a paper containing factual claims that lack evidentiary support, and those sanctions can include the opposing party’s reasonable attorney’s fees.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions When the other side had to hire experts, take depositions, and file multiple motions to prove the lie, those fees add up quickly.
Losing the Case Outright
In the worst situations, a judge can impose case-determinative sanctions, meaning the dishonest party’s claims are dismissed or their defenses are struck. That often amounts to an automatic loss. Courts reserve this remedy for deliberate, egregious misconduct, and a knowingly false affidavit is exactly the kind of conduct that qualifies. The court can also hold the offending party or their attorney in contempt.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment
Overturning a Judgment Already Entered
A false affidavit can unravel a case even after it is over. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) allows a court to set aside a final judgment that was obtained through fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct by the opposing party.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order If someone won a lawsuit partly on the strength of a false affidavit, the losing side can go back to court and ask for the judgment to be thrown out.
The motion has to be filed within a reasonable time, and you need evidence that the fraud actually affected the outcome. Those motions are not easy to win, but courts take fraud seriously enough that they regularly grant relief when the proof is solid.
If Someone Pressured You to Sign
The person who signs is not the only one on the hook. Anyone who persuades, pressures, or pays another person to lie under oath is guilty of a separate federal crime called subornation of perjury, with the same five-year maximum sentence and the same $250,000 fine ceiling.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1622 – Subornation of Perjury2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine This situation is more common than most people realize. A party to a lawsuit who drafts a false affidavit and hands it to a friend or business associate to sign has committed subornation, and the signer has committed perjury. Both face the same maximum sentence. If someone is pushing you to put your name on a statement you know is untrue, you are the one who ends up with a perjury charge, regardless of who wrote the words.
Can You Fix It by Taking It Back
The law offers a narrow window for coming forward. Under the federal false declarations statute, a person can avoid prosecution by admitting the falsehood during the same proceeding, before the false statement has substantially affected the outcome and before the lie has been exposed or is about to be.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1623 – False Declarations Before Grand Jury or Court
That defense is genuinely limited. It applies only under the false declarations statute, not the general perjury statute. Under the broader perjury law, the crime is complete the moment the false statement is presented. A later correction can help show you lacked willful intent, but it does not automatically bar prosecution.8Congress.gov. False Statements and Perjury – An Overview of Federal Criminal Law Correcting a false affidavit as early as possible is always better than waiting. Do not assume recantation is a guaranteed shield.
Professional and Reputational Fallout
A perjury conviction, or even a judicial finding that someone submitted a false affidavit, leaves damage that outlasts the case. In future proceedings, opposing counsel can point to the prior dishonesty to undermine anything the person says. Courts and juries treat prior false sworn statements as highly relevant to credibility.
For licensed professionals, the stakes climb. Lawyers, doctors, accountants, real estate agents, and others who hold professional licenses answer to licensing boards. A finding that a licensee lied under oath can trigger investigation and discipline ranging from a reprimand to permanent loss of the license.
Extra Rules for Lawyers
Attorneys carry an added duty. Under the widely adopted Model Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer who learns that evidence submitted to the court is false must take “reasonable remedial measures, including, if necessary, disclosure to the tribunal.” That duty overrides normal attorney-client confidentiality.9American Bar Association. Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 3.3 – Candor Toward the Tribunal In practice, a lawyer who finds out their client’s affidavit is false has to press the client to correct the record, and if the client refuses, disclose the problem to the court. An attorney who knowingly files a false affidavit or lets one stand uncorrected risks disbarment, not just a reprimand.
If a False Affidavit Was Filed Against You
If you are on the receiving end, your attorney has several ways to expose the affidavit and limit its impact. The usual first step is a motion asking the court to disregard it, supported by evidence that the statements are false. Judges have broad authority to exclude unreliable evidence, and clear proof of fabrication will get the affidavit struck. Your lawyer can also ask for sanctions, which can recover your legal costs.
Building the proof means gathering evidence that directly contradicts the affidavit’s claims: documents, emails, text messages, photographs, phone records, or testimony from other witnesses. The more specific the contradiction, the easier the challenge. Cross-examination at a deposition or hearing is another tool, forcing the affiant to either reconcile their statement with the other evidence or dig deeper into an obvious lie. The record that produces often supports both civil sanctions and a referral for criminal perjury charges.
If the false affidavit already contributed to a judgment that went against you, a Rule 60(b) motion for relief based on fraud is the way to reopen the case.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order Act promptly once you discover the fraud, and preserve every piece of evidence you have that proves it.