A Mississippi affidavit is a written statement of facts that only carries legal weight once the person making it (the affiant) signs it in front of a notary or other authorized officer and swears or affirms that the contents are true. Skip that step and you have a letter. Get the certificate wrong, or write conclusions instead of facts, and a court can throw the document out. Mississippi’s Revised Law on Notarial Acts took effect July 1, 2021, so any template you found online should be checked against current requirements before you rely on it.
What Has to Be in the Document
A valid affidavit follows a predictable shape. The opening block, sometimes called the caption or venue, names the county (and the court, if the affidavit is for litigation) and gives the affiant’s full legal name and address. That establishes where the document was executed and who is speaking.
The body sets out the facts in separately numbered paragraphs, one point per paragraph. Every statement must come from the affiant’s personal knowledge. Not hearsay, not guesswork, not legal conclusions. “The defendant was negligent” gets struck. “I watched the defendant run the red light at Main and Elm” stands. This is where most homemade affidavits collapse.
Near the top, include language confirming that the affiant is of legal age, competent to testify, and swearing or affirming the contents under penalty of perjury. At the bottom, the affiant’s signature block sits above the notarial certificate, which the notary fills in.
Use a Jurat, Not an Acknowledgment
Mississippi notaries perform several kinds of notarial acts, and the wrong one voids the document. For an affidavit, the correct certificate is a jurat. A jurat means the affiant appeared in person, took an oath or affirmation about the truth of the document, and signed it while the notary watched. The wording typically reads: “Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me this ___ day of ___, 20__.”
An acknowledgment is different. It only confirms that the person who signed is who they say they are. There is no oath about the contents, and the signing does not have to happen in the notary’s presence. Acknowledgments belong on deeds and powers of attorney. If your affidavit carries an acknowledgment certificate, a court can reject it because no oath was ever administered.
How Execution Works
Identity
The affiant has to appear in person and prove who they are. Under Mississippi Code § 25-34-13, satisfactory evidence of identity includes an unexpired U.S. or foreign passport, a state driver’s license current or expired no more than five years, a government-issued nondriver ID card, a Mississippi voter ID card, an unexpired photo ID from a federally recognized Indian tribe or nation, or another government-issued ID containing a photograph, signature, and identifying number that satisfies the notary. A notary who personally knows the affiant well enough to be reasonably certain of their identity can skip the ID check, though most will still ask and note it in their journal.1Mississippi Secretary of State. Revised Mississippi Law on Notarial Acts – Section 25-34-13
The Oath or Affirmation
After confirming identity, the notary administers an oath (“Do you swear…”) or an affirmation (“Do you affirm…”). Mississippi treats the two as equally valid. The affiant has to answer out loud. A nod or silence doesn’t count. That spoken exchange is what separates an affidavit from an unsworn statement and what subjects the affiant to perjury penalties if the contents turn out to be false.2Justia. Mississippi Code 25-33-9 – Administering Oaths and Affirmations
Signing in the Notary’s Presence
Sign the document only after you get to the notary. A jurat requires the notary to witness the actual signature, so a pre-signed page forces the notary to either refuse the notarization or improperly backdate the certificate. Once the affiant signs, the notary completes the jurat by signing, affixing the official stamp, and recording the date.
The Notary Stamp and Fee
Mississippi Administrative Code Rule 5-3.1 specifies what the stamp must show, in order: the words “State of Mississippi,” the notary’s name as it appears on the commission, the words “Notary Public,” the county where the notary maintains an office, the commission expiration date, and the commission identification number assigned by the Secretary of State. No abbreviations except name suffixes, and the state seal is not permitted on the stamp.3Legal Information Institute. 1 Mississippi Code R. 5-3.1 – Official Stamp
The maximum notary fee is $5.00 per signature for jurats, acknowledgments, and signature witnessings. An oath or affirmation administered without a signature is also capped at $5.00 per person.4Legal Information Institute. 1 Mississippi Code R. 5-9.1 – Fees for Notarial Acts
The notary also has to keep a journal of every notarial act, filled out at the time of the act rather than later from memory.5Mississippi Secretary of State. Revised Mississippi Law on Notarial Acts – Section 25-34-37
A Mississippi notary can perform notarial acts anywhere in the state. The county on the stamp shows where the notary’s office is, not the limit of their authority.
Who Else Can Swear You In
A notary public is the usual choice, but judges, clerks of court, and certain military officials can also administer oaths under Mississippi law. For most people preparing an affidavit for a real estate closing, a probate matter, or a civil case, a notary is the practical option. Banks, law offices, shipping stores, and courthouses across the state have them.
Affidavits in Court
Affidavits show up most often when a party needs to put factual evidence in the record without calling a live witness. The classic setting is a summary judgment motion.
Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 56(e) requires that affidavits supporting or opposing summary judgment be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and affirmatively show the affiant is competent to testify about those facts. Sworn or certified copies of any referenced documents have to be attached.6Mississippi Courts. Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 56
Federal Rule 56(c)(4) imposes the same personal-knowledge and competency standard. It adds that a court finding an affidavit was submitted in bad faith or solely for delay can order the submitting party to pay the other side’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, and may impose additional sanctions.7Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment
The Small Estate Affidavit
Outside litigation, the most common affidavit in Mississippi is probably the Affidavit of Successor under Mississippi Code § 91-7-322. When someone dies and the total probate estate is worth no more than $75,000 (not counting debts and liens), heirs can collect the deceased person’s personal property without opening a formal probate case. The affidavit has to state that at least 30 days have passed since the death, that no personal representative has been appointed, and that the person filing it is a legitimate successor.8Justia. Mississippi Code 91-7-322 – Payment of Indebtedness or Delivery of Personal Property of Decedent to Decedents Successor
Anyone who pays money or turns over property on the strength of the affidavit is protected. The statute releases them from liability to the same extent as if they had dealt with a court-appointed personal representative. Banks, employers holding a final paycheck, and brokerage firms use this procedure routinely.
Penalties for a False Affidavit
Mississippi treats a false affidavit as perjury. Under Mississippi Code § 97-9-19, a person who files a false affidavit is guilty of perjury and faces punishment as provided by law.9FindLaw. Mississippi Code 97-9-19 – Crimes
The exposure depends on the setting. Under § 97-9-61, perjury during the trial of a capital offense or other felony carries a minimum of ten years in prison. Perjury in any other judicial proceeding or legal matter carries up to ten years. A perjury conviction also destroys the person’s credibility as a witness: Mississippi law bars a convicted perjurer from being sworn as a witness in any future matter until the judgment is reversed.
The oath is not a formality. It is the mechanism that makes every sentence in the document enforceable against the person who signed it. Read what you are signing, and do not sign anything you know to be inaccurate.