If you find yourself in a court proceeding or business dispute, you may come across the term ‘affidavit’. In simple terms, an affidavit is a written statement which you swear to be true. Understanding how and when one is used is important to be aware of at each stage of your dispute. This article will first explain what an affidavit is and when it is used. It will then offer some guidance on using an affidavit.
As mentioned, an affidavit is a legal document, including a sworn written statement. Specifically, you use an affidavit when a person gives evidence, showing that the person giving evidence has taken an oath. A court may also ask you to ‘offer’ an affidavit. Courts will use affidavits as additional evidence, usually alongside a witness statement.
If you offer an affidavit, you are giving a declaration of your knowledge and beliefs at the time. Beliefs can include a personal opinion. However, if you state a personal opinion, you must make this clear in the document. As a result, you will not be held accountable for failing to provide information if you were not aware of it at the time.
Further, because affidavits include beliefs alongside knowledge, you will also not be accountable if your belief is mistaken (provided that you genuinely believed it). In this way, if you give a false statement that you genuinely thought to be true, you will also not be accountable.
However, if you knowingly give a false statement in an affidavit, you may be liable for perjury or held to be in contempt of court.
You can use affidavits in any dispute during litigation or court proceedings. However, they are common in:
In divorce proceedings, they can often show that both partners have agreed to end the marriage. In debt cases, affidavits are often used to show how a person came to have that debt. Further, in property disputes, affidavits often demonstrate how a person came to have a certain property.
In all cases, affidavits are a method of presenting evidence in a professional way, which receives the confidence of the court and the other party to the dispute.
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