How to Fill Out and File the Nebraska Judicial Branch Affidavit Form

Nebraska’s general-purpose affidavit is Form CC 3:28, “Affidavit (Generic),” available for download from the Nebraska Judicial Branch forms page at nebraskajudicial.gov.¹²³ Done right, the form takes an afternoon. Done wrong, it gets struck from the record.

What to Gather Before You Open the Form

Pull these items together first:

The court type (District or County) and the county where the case is pending.
The case number assigned by the clerk, which appears on every document already filed.
The full legal names of all parties as they appear on the original petition or complaint.
Your personal-knowledge facts, separated from anything you only heard secondhand. Nebraska requires every affidavit to rest on the signer’s own personal knowledge and to contain only facts admissible as evidence.⁴
Sworn or certified copies of any document you plan to reference. Nebraska law requires copies of every document mentioned in an affidavit to be attached to it or served with it.⁴

Filling Out the Case Caption

The caption at the top of Form CC 3:28 tells the clerk which file this affidavit belongs in. Enter the court type, the county, and the case number. Then type the party names exactly as they appear on the original filing. A mismatched caption, a wrong case number, or a misspelled name can push the clerk to reject the filing or route it to the wrong file. Check every character against a document already in the case.

Writing the Body of the Affidavit

Use numbered paragraphs, one fact or closely related group of facts per paragraph. Numbered paragraphs let judges and opposing counsel respond to each point individually.

Open with a paragraph identifying yourself: your full name, your relationship to the case, and a statement that you have personal knowledge of the facts that follow. Nebraska’s evidence rules bar testimony from anyone who lacks firsthand knowledge of the matter, and the affidavit must show on its face that you are competent to testify about what you describe.⁵⁴

Keep the language factual. State what happened, when, where, and who was involved. Skip opinions, legal conclusions, and speculation. This matters most when the affidavit supports or opposes a motion for summary judgment, because Nebraska courts treat statements of opinion, belief, or legal conclusions in summary-judgment affidavits as having no effect at all.⁴ “I believe the defendant was negligent” does nothing. “I watched the defendant run through the red light at 14th and O Street at approximately 5:15 p.m. on March 3, 2026” does.

When you reference an attachment, identify it clearly: “See Exhibit A, attached, a true and correct copy of the lease agreement dated January 15, 2026.” Label each exhibit with a letter or number and match the label in the text to the label on the physical attachment.

Getting the Affidavit Notarized

Nebraska requires every affidavit to show on its face that it was duly sworn before an authorized officer, which in practice means a notary public or another official who can administer oaths.² Do not sign at home. A document sworn before someone not authorized to administer an oath is not a valid affidavit, and pre-signing before you reach the notary forces you to start over with a fresh copy.

Identity Verification

The notary will verify your identity before you sign. Nebraska accepts two methods: at least one current government-issued document bearing your photograph, signature, and physical description (a driver’s license works, and a passport qualifies even without a physical description), or the oath of a credible witness who personally knows both you and the notary.⁶ Without acceptable ID or a credible witness, the notary cannot proceed.

Remote Online Notarization

Nebraska allows online notarization, where you appear before the notary by live audio-video connection rather than in person.⁷ The notary must be registered as an online notary public with the Nebraska Secretary of State and must use an approved technology provider. Identity verification uses the same standards as in-person notarization. Not every notary offers remote service, so confirm availability before relying on it.

Notary Fees

Nebraska caps notary fees at $2 for the jurat (the certificate attached to your affidavit) and $2 for administering the oath. Some notaries charge less or nothing. Banks and shipping stores that employ notaries sometimes offer the service free to customers.

Filing with the Court

Once the affidavit is notarized, you need to get the original into the court file. Two routes work.

In Person or by Mail

Bring or mail the notarized original to the Clerk of the Court in the county where the case is pending.⁸ If you file in person, ask the clerk to stamp a copy with the filing date and time. Keep that stamped copy as proof of when the document entered the record.

Electronic Filing

The Nebraska Judicial Branch runs an e-filing system covering all case types in the trial and appellate courts. Attorneys practicing in Nebraska are required to use e-filing and must register through a Nebraska.gov subscriber account.⁹ Self-represented parties may also create an account and e-file. Documents e-filed in the appellate courts must be text-searchable PDFs. Once the clerk accepts an e-filed document, the image becomes available on the court’s system the same business day.⁸

Filing Fees

Filing an affidavit inside an existing case does not always trigger a separate fee, because the docket fee paid when the case was opened covers many later filings. The base docket fee in district court is $42 for most civil and criminal cases, with lower amounts for specific filing types such as a transcript-of-judgment filing ($25) or a criminal appeal from an inferior court ($27).¹⁰ A separate records management fee of $15 may also apply. Call the clerk’s office in your county if you are unsure whether your particular filing carries an added cost.

If You Cannot Afford the Fees

Ask the court to waive costs by filing an Affidavit and Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Form DC 6:7.1).¹¹ The form requires you to disclose monthly income and its source, household size, assets (bank accounts, vehicles, real estate), and monthly expenses. No fixed income cutoff applies; you must swear that you cannot pay the cost of litigation and that your living expenses wholly absorb your income. A judge reviews the application and decides.

Signing from Outside the United States

If you are physically located outside the United States when you need to sign, Nebraska’s version of the Uniform Unsworn Foreign Declarations Act lets you substitute an unsworn declaration for a notarized affidavit.¹² You sign under penalty of perjury and state that you are physically outside U.S. boundaries. The declaration carries the same legal weight as a sworn affidavit.

This substitute does not cover every situation. It cannot replace a deposition, an oath of office, a power of attorney, a declaration recorded against real property, or an oath attesting to the execution of a will.¹³ If you are inside the United States, the unsworn-declaration option is not available and you need a notary.

Perjury Consequences

Lying in an affidavit is perjury. Under Nebraska law, a person commits perjury by making a false material statement under oath in an official proceeding when the person does not believe the statement to be true.¹⁴ A statement is material if it could have affected the outcome of the proceeding, whether or not the statement would have been admissible under the rules of evidence.

Perjury is a Class III felony, carrying a maximum sentence of four years in prison and two years of post-release supervision, a fine of up to $25,000, or both.¹⁵ Persuading someone else to lie in an affidavit (subornation of perjury) carries the same penalty.¹⁴ A court that discovers false statements in an affidavit can also strike the document, sanction the filer, and draw negative inferences against that party for the rest of the case.

Common Mistakes That Get Affidavits Rejected

Most problems with Nebraska affidavits fall into a few recurring categories:

Signing before you reach the notary. The notary cannot certify an oath they did not witness, so a pre-signed document forces a redo.
Including hearsay. “My neighbor told me the defendant was speeding” is someone else’s observation filtered through you, not personal knowledge, and the court can disregard the paragraph.
Stating opinions or legal conclusions. “The contract was breached” is for the judge to decide. Describe what the other side did or failed to do and let the facts carry the point.
Forgetting to attach exhibits. If paragraph 4 cites Exhibit B and Exhibit B is not physically attached, the reference has no evidentiary value and the court may strike that portion.
A mismatched caption. A wrong case number or misspelled party name can prevent the clerk from filing the document in the correct case.

Read every line one more time before you head to the notary. Corrections after notarization usually require a fresh affidavit with a fresh notarization rather than a cross-out.

1
Nebraska Judicial Branch. Affidavit (Generic)
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 25-1241 – Affidavit, Defined
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 25-1244 – Affidavit; When Used
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 25-1334 – Form of Affidavits; Further Testimony
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 27-602 – Rule 602. Lack of Personal Knowledge; Witness May Not Testify; Evidence
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 64-105 – Notarial Act; Principal; Requirements
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Nebraska Secretary of State. Notary Public
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Nebraska.gov. Nebraska Judicial Branch eFiling Frequently Asked Questions
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Nebraska Judicial Branch. eFiling
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 33-106 – Clerk of the District Court; Fees; Enumerated
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Nebraska Judicial Branch. Affidavit and Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 49-1806 – Unsworn Declaration; Form
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National Notary Association. NE Legislative Bill 57
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 28-915 – Perjury; Subornation of Perjury; Penalty
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 28-105 – Felonies; Classification of Penalties