To fill out and notarize a Louisiana affidavit, you write a sworn statement of facts you know firsthand, sign it in the physical presence of a notary public after being placed under oath, and — depending on what the affidavit is for — sign in front of two witnesses as well. Then you file or deliver it wherever it needs to go: a Clerk of Court, a parish conveyance office, a bank, or whoever asked for it. The mechanics are simple once you have the right information in front of you before you sit down with the notary.
What to Gather Before You Draft
Every fact you’ll swear to has to come from your own knowledge. A Louisiana affidavit used in court must be based on personal knowledge and must show that you’re competent to testify to those facts.1Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 967 – Same; Affidavits Rumor, guesswork, and secondhand accounts don’t belong in the document.
Pull the following together first:
- Your full legal name as it appears on your government-issued photo ID, your current address, and contact details.
- The parish where you’ll actually sign. Louisiana notaries can administer oaths in any parish in the state, so you’re not tied to your home parish, but the parish where you sign is the one that goes in the venue block.2Justia. Louisiana Code 35:2 – General Powers; Administration of Certain Oaths in Any Parish; True Copies
- The underlying facts, verified against records rather than memory: dates, names, dollar amounts, property descriptions, contract terms. Have your bank statements, deeds, receipts, or other paperwork in hand.
- Any supporting documents the affidavit needs to reference or attach — a certified death certificate, a copy of a will, property records, and so on.
Many parish Clerk of Court offices publish affidavit templates, and the Law Library of Louisiana keeps a directory of court forms organized by parish and judicial district.3Law Library of Louisiana. Court Forms (By Parish) The Louisiana State Bar Association warns that many forms circulating online do not comply with Louisiana law, so stick with sources tied to a Louisiana court or the state itself.4Louisiana State Bar Association. Self-Help Services and Legal Forms
Writing the Affidavit
Start at the top with the venue block: “State of Louisiana, Parish of [Name].” The opening paragraph identifies you as the affiant and states that you are of legal age and competent to make the statement. A standard opening reads along the lines of: “Before me, the undersigned notary, personally came and appeared [Your Name], who after being duly sworn, declared the following.”
The body is where the facts live. Use numbered paragraphs and keep each paragraph to a single point. Be specific. “On March 14, 2025, I personally observed water damage to the north wall of the property at 412 Elm Street, Baton Rouge” carries far more weight than “I saw damage to the house.” Vague or speculative language invites challenge, and every sentence should reflect something you can back up with your own observation or your own records.
Don’t leave blank fields. If a line on a template doesn’t apply to your situation, write “N/A” rather than leaving it empty, because a blank space in a signed and notarized document can be filled in later by someone else. Close the body with a statement that everything above is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, made under penalty of perjury.
Where you’re not entirely certain about a fact, say so on the page. Phrases like “to the best of my knowledge” or “I believe but am not certain” belong in the affidavit rather than being smoothed over. Perjury requires an intentional false statement about something material; hedging an honest uncertainty is how you stay on the right side of that line.5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:123 – Perjury
Signing Before the Notary
Sign in person. The notary has to witness the act of signing and administer the oath at that moment, so don’t sign in advance. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID; the notary will verify your identity before you sign.
If the person making the affidavit cannot sign their name, the notary has them affix a mark to the document in place of a signature.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 1833 – Authentic Act
When You Need Two Witnesses
Louisiana distinguishes a simple notarized affidavit from what the state calls an authentic act. For many affidavits, the notary’s signature and seal are all you need. For an authentic act — the format that carries the highest level of legal authority — you sign in front of a notary and two witnesses, and all four of you sign the document. Each person’s typed or printed name has to appear legibly beneath their signature.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 1833 – Authentic Act
Succession affidavits and real estate documents almost always require the full authentic act format. If you’re not sure whether your affidavit needs two witnesses, check the specific statute or court rule that governs the filing before you go to the notary.
Louisiana law also gives properly witnessed affidavits real evidentiary weight. When a private document such as a deed, contract, or power of attorney is signed in front of two or more witnesses and accompanied by an affidavit confirming the signatures, courts accept it as genuine without additional proof — meaning a well-executed affidavit can spare you from calling witnesses to court later.7Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3720 – Instruments Attested by Witnesses and Accompanied by Affidavit; Admissible in Evidence
Filing or Recording It
Where the finished affidavit goes depends on why you drafted it. An affidavit used as evidence in a lawsuit gets filed with the Clerk of Court handling the case. An affidavit that transfers property, such as a small succession affidavit, has to be recorded in the conveyance records of the parish where the property sits. Some affidavits don’t get filed with anyone official — you hand the notarized original to the bank, employer, or agency that asked for it.
Fees vary by parish and by filing type. A pleading filed in an existing court case can run as little as $7 for the first page plus $5 per additional page in some parishes, while recording a document in the conveyance records can cost $100 or more depending on page count and parish.8Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court. Fees Call your parish Clerk of Court before you go to confirm the current fee and the accepted payment methods.
When the clerk accepts the filing, they’ll stamp it with the date and time of receipt. Ask for a conformed or certified copy for your records. That copy is your proof of what you filed and when.
Small Successions: A Common Use
One of the most frequent reasons Louisianans need an affidavit is transferring a deceased person’s property without opening a full succession. If the estate’s gross value is $125,000 or less at the date of death, it qualifies as a small succession that can be handled by affidavit instead of court proceedings. Estates where the death occurred at least 20 years before the affidavit is filed qualify regardless of value.9Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3421
The Code of Civil Procedure spells out specific required contents for a small succession affidavit, including date and place of death, marital status, every heir’s name and address, a description of each item of property, each heir’s inherited share, an acceptance of the succession, and a sworn perjury acknowledgment.10Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3432 If the deceased left a will, the affidavit version is only available when the deceased owned no immovable property in Louisiana; the intestate version does allow real estate to be described and transferred.11Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3432.1 – Affidavit for Small Succession for a Person Domiciled in Louisiana Who Died Testate; Contents Attach a certified death certificate and record the affidavit in the conveyance records of every parish where the deceased owned property.
Penalties for False Statements
A Louisiana affidavit is sworn evidence, and lying in one is perjury. The penalties scale with the seriousness of the proceeding where the false statement was used:5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:123 – Perjury
- In a civil case, administrative proceeding, or legislative hearing: up to a $10,000 fine, up to five years at hard labor, or both.
- In a criminal trial where a hard labor sentence of less than life could be imposed: up to a $50,000 fine, one to twenty years at hard labor, or both.
- In a criminal trial where death or life imprisonment could be imposed: up to a $100,000 fine, five to forty years at hard labor, or both.
The statute requires that the false statement be intentional and material to the issue at hand. An honest mistake about a date isn’t perjury; deliberately misstating who inherited a piece of property is. When you’re not certain of a fact, hedge it on the page rather than swearing to it as absolute truth.