What Is a Judgment Affidavit and When Do You Need One?

A judgment affidavit is a sworn written statement of facts filed with a court to support a request to enter a judgment or to enforce one that already exists. The person signing it, called the affiant, swears under penalty of perjury that every fact in the document is true based on firsthand knowledge, which lets the court treat the affidavit as evidence without calling the affiant to testify. You will most often need one when asking for a default judgment, when supporting or opposing a motion for summary judgment, or when updating the court on amounts owed after judgment has already been entered.

When You Need One

Default Judgments

If a defendant is served with a lawsuit and never responds, the plaintiff can ask the court to enter judgment by default. The request is almost always backed by an affidavit confirming that the defendant was properly served, that the time to respond has run, and that no response was filed. When the claim is for a sum that can be calculated with certainty, a court clerk can enter the judgment on the affidavit and the plaintiff’s request alone, with no hearing.¹ More complicated claims go to the judge, who may hold a hearing to verify damages.

Summary Judgment

Either party can move for summary judgment, asking the court to decide the case without trial because the material facts are not genuinely in dispute. Affidavits are a primary way to put those facts in front of the court. Federal rules require that any affidavit used on summary judgment be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible at trial, and show the affiant is competent to testify about what they describe.² Speculation and secondhand information get disregarded.

Post-Judgment Enforcement

After a judgment is entered, affidavits still have work to do. A judgment creditor can file one to document accrued post-judgment interest, additional costs, or partial payments the debtor has made, updating the record on what remains owed.

What a Judgment Affidavit Must Contain

Courts reject affidavits that are vague, conclusory, or missing standard parts. A workable one includes each of the following.

Caption and Affiant Identification

The top of the document carries a caption matching the court’s records: court name, parties, and case number.³ The affiant then states their full name and their connection to the case, whether as a party, a process server, a records custodian, or another person with relevant knowledge.

Personal Knowledge Statement

The affidavit must say, in so many words, that the facts are based on the affiant’s own direct knowledge. This is not boilerplate. Courts routinely strike paragraphs that rest on what someone else said or on the affiant’s assumptions rather than what the affiant personally saw, did, or reviewed.² A records custodian testifying about business documents should explain the role and how they know the records are accurate.

Specific Factual Statements

The body sets out the facts in numbered paragraphs, one fact per paragraph: the date a contract was signed, the dates payments were missed, the amount of each one. Precision counts. “The defendant owes approximately $15,000” is weaker than the exact figure with the math behind it. For a money judgment, courts want what federal rules call a sum certain, meaning an amount that can be worked out by straightforward calculation.¹

Itemized Amounts

Break the total into components: principal balance, any pre-judgment interest claimed, and recoverable costs or fees. If you claim pre-judgment interest, give the rate and the exact period over which it accrued. Judges and clerks need to follow your math. Attach the underlying contract, invoices, or payment ledgers as exhibits and reference each one in the affidavit text.

The Separate Military-Status Affidavit for Defaults

Before any court enters a default judgment, federal law requires a separate affidavit addressing the defendant’s military status. The requirement comes from the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which protects active-duty service members from having judgments entered against them while they cannot appear.⁴

The affidavit must state either that the defendant is not currently in military service or that the plaintiff was unable to determine the defendant’s status. Active-duty status can be verified free of charge through the Department of Defense Manpower Data Center’s online search tool.⁵ If you cannot confirm it one way or the other, the court may require a bond before entering judgment, protecting the defendant from loss if the judgment is later set aside. Filing a false military-status affidavit is a federal crime punishable by a fine, up to one year in prison, or both.⁴

How to Make It Sworn: Notary or Unsworn Declaration

Oath and Notarization

The traditional path is to sign the affidavit in the physical presence of a notary public after swearing an oath or making an affirmation that the contents are truthful.⁶ The notary verifies your identity with a government-issued photo ID, watches you sign, and completes a notarial certificate called a jurat. The jurat is what distinguishes a sworn affidavit from a plain signed statement. Without it, the document has not been sworn to and will not carry the legal weight of an affidavit.

Unsworn Declaration Under 28 U.S.C. § 1746

Federal law offers an alternative that many filers overlook. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1746, you can substitute an unsworn written declaration for a notarized affidavit in any federal proceeding, provided you sign it and include specific language declaring the contents true under penalty of perjury.⁷ The declaration carries the same legal force as a sworn affidavit.

If signed within the United States, the required language is: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [date].” If signed outside the country, add “under the laws of the United States of America” after “perjury.”⁷ The declaration option does not apply to depositions or oaths of office. Many states have adopted similar provisions for state-court filings, with varying language and eligibility rules, so confirm your local rules before relying on a declaration.

Remote Online Notarization

If you need traditional notarization but cannot easily appear in person, remote online notarization (RON) may be available. As of early 2025, over 45 states and the District of Columbia have permanent laws allowing notarization over a live audio-video connection. Whether a particular court will accept a remotely notarized affidavit depends on that court’s own rules, so confirm acceptance before filing.

Filing the Affidavit

Once the affidavit is signed and either notarized or executed as an unsworn declaration, file it with the court clerk in the jurisdiction where your case is pending. Most courts accept filings in person, by mail, or through an electronic filing portal. An affidavit is almost never filed on its own. It accompanies a motion, such as a motion for default judgment or summary judgment, and is attached as a supporting document or exhibit.

Serving the Opposing Party

The service rules trip people up. Under federal rules, you generally must serve copies of any motion and supporting papers on every other party in the case, but there is an explicit exception: no service is required on a party who is in default for failing to appear at all.⁸ If a defaulting party previously appeared in the case before dropping out, written notice of your application for default judgment must reach that party at least seven days before any hearing.¹

Permitted methods include hand delivery, leaving copies at the person’s office or home, mailing to the last known address, or electronic delivery if the recipient has consented in writing.⁸ State courts have their own rules, and some require service on defaulting parties when federal rules do not.

What Happens When an Affidavit Is Defective or False

Defective in Substance

If an affidavit contains statements not based on personal knowledge, inadmissible hearsay, or legal conclusions instead of facts, the court can strike those portions or disregard the entire document. When an affidavit is stricken on a summary judgment motion, the motion often fails along with it. On a default request, the clerk or judge will not enter judgment until the deficiency is fixed. You can usually file a corrected affidavit, at the cost of time and credibility.

Filed in Bad Faith

Consequences escalate when the court finds an affidavit was filed in bad faith or purely to cause delay. Under the federal summary judgment rule, the court can order the filer to pay the other side’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, and can hold the offending party or attorney in contempt.² Any paper filed with the court is also a certification that its factual assertions have evidentiary support. Violating that standard can trigger sanctions, including monetary penalties and orders to pay the opposing party’s legal fees.⁹

Perjury

Because every affidavit is sworn under penalty of perjury, lying in one is a criminal offense. Federal perjury law carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years. A declaration under 28 U.S.C. § 1746 carries the same perjury exposure as a notarized affidavit, so skipping the notary does not reduce your risk if the statements are false.⁷

1
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55
2
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56
3
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 10 – Form of Pleadings
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments
5
Department of Defense Manpower Data Center. Status Finder
6
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 7 FAM 850 – Taking an Affidavit
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury
8
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5 – Serving and Filing Pleadings and Other Papers
9
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers