A valid affidavit in South Carolina has to check several boxes at once: identifying information at the top, numbered factual statements based on your own knowledge, a verification clause, your signature, and notarization by a commissioned notary public who watched you sign in person. Miss any of those South Carolina affidavit requirements and the document can be thrown out, or worse, expose you to perjury charges carrying up to five years in prison.
What Must Be In the Document
South Carolina does not publish a single official affidavit template, but courts expect a consistent layout. The structure runs top to bottom: who you are, what you know, and a sworn declaration that it’s true.
Identifying Information
Start with your full legal name, residential address, and contact information. If the affidavit supports a pending case, add the court name, case number, and your role (plaintiff, defendant, witness, or other interested party). Someone signing in a professional capacity should list their job title and employer as well.
Numbered Facts From Personal Knowledge
The body of the affidavit lays out what you know, organized in numbered paragraphs, one fact or event per paragraph. Stick to things you personally witnessed or did. When you reference a document, identify it by name, date, and type, and attach a copy as an exhibit when possible.
Leave out conclusions, opinions, and secondhand information. Rule 56(e) of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure requires that affidavits “shall be made on personal knowledge” and “shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence.”1South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 56 – Summary Judgment That standard governs summary judgment proceedings, and courts across the divisions apply the same baseline elsewhere. If you didn’t see it, hear it, or do it yourself, keep it out. The one exception is expert testimony: an affiant with proper qualifications may offer opinions within their area of expertise.
Verification Clause and Signature
Close with a verification clause confirming the truthfulness of everything above. A typical South Carolina verification reads something like: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.” Follow it with your signature, the date, and a statement that you signed voluntarily. That language puts you on notice that lying in the document is a crime.
Notarization
An affidavit is not legally effective until a commissioned notary public witnesses your signature and administers an oath or affirmation. The notary verifies your identity, confirms you’re signing willingly, and completes the jurat, which is the notary’s certification block at the bottom of the document.
South Carolina law defines “personal appearance” as the affiant and notary being in each other’s physical presence so they can “freely see and communicate with one another and exchange records.”2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 26 – Notaries Public and Acknowledgments That requirement applies to electronic notarization too. Under the Electronic Notary Public Act, an electronic notary may notarize documents stored in electronic form, but the principal still must “appear in person before the electronic notary public at the time of notarization.”3South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 26 Chapter 2 – Electronic Notaries Public Remote video notarization is not authorized. Show up in person, bring valid ID, and sign while the notary watches.
The jurat itself must contain the notary’s official seal, signature, commission expiration date, and a statement confirming the affidavit was sworn or affirmed. Any of those elements missing can make the notarization defective and sink the affidavit.
If you are physically unable to sign, the notary may sign on your behalf, but only under specific conditions: you must direct the notary to sign, two disinterested witnesses must be present, and both witnesses must also sign the document. The notary then adds a note below the signature explaining that it was affixed at your direction and naming both witnesses with their addresses.4South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 26-1-90 – Powers of Notary Public
What Notarization Costs
South Carolina caps notary fees at $5 per signature for a jurat, which is the notarial act most affidavits require. The same $5 cap applies to acknowledgments, signature witnessings, oaths without a signature, and verifications of fact.5South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 26-1-100 – Fees for Notary Acts Many banks, government offices, and libraries offer notary services free of charge, so the cost rarely runs above a few dollars.
Attaching Exhibits
When your affidavit references a contract, photograph, bank statement, or other document, attach it as an exhibit. Label each one sequentially (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, and so on) and reference the label in the body so the reader can follow along. Use sworn or certified copies rather than originals when possible.
Family court is stricter about exhibits than other divisions. Under Rule 21, the total pages of exhibits attached to a party’s affidavits cannot exceed 30 pages, and those pages do not count against the affidavit’s own page limit.6South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 21 – Temporary Relief If a referenced document is too long to attach, you can summarize it under Rule 1006 of the South Carolina Rules of Evidence, but you must serve the full document on the opposing party and have it available at the hearing. Other divisions don’t impose rigid page caps, but keeping exhibits focused is always sound practice.
Filing the Affidavit
After notarization, the affidavit gets filed with the clerk of the court handling the case. Which court that is depends on the type of proceeding:
- Magistrate Court handles small claims disputes and minor civil matters.
- Circuit Court handles larger civil lawsuits and criminal cases.
- Family Court handles divorce, custody, support, and domestic matters.
- Probate Court handles estate administration, guardianships, and will contests, filed in the county where the decedent lived or where the property is located.
Some South Carolina courts accept electronic filing for certain case types, particularly in Circuit and Family Court. Not every court or case type is eligible, and some clerks still require original notarized documents submitted in person or by mail. Check with the specific clerk’s office before assuming e-filing is available.
Family Court Page Limits
Family court caps how much you can say in an affidavit, with the limits tied to how much hearing time is scheduled:
- For a 15-minute hearing, each party is limited to 10 pages of affidavits.
- For a 30-minute hearing, each party is limited to 20 pages.
- For longer hearings, the requesting party must explain why more time and pages are needed, and the chief judge decides the limit.
Financial declarations, proposed parenting plans, and attorney fee affidavits are excluded from these page caps.6South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 21 – Temporary Relief These limits catch people off guard, especially in custody or temporary support hearings where there is a lot to say. Front-load the most important facts.
Penalties for False Statements
Lying in an affidavit is not a technicality. Because the document is signed under oath, knowingly including false information can trigger South Carolina’s perjury statute, and the consequences depend on how the affidavit is used.
A false statement given under oath in a court, judicial, or administrative proceeding is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine in the court’s discretion, or both. If the false information appears on a document required by state law but is not part of a court proceeding, the offense drops to a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail, a fine of at least $100, or both.7South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-10 – Perjury and Subornation of Perjury Most affidavits filed with a court fall into the felony category, which is why the verification clause language matters.
Criminal charges are not the only risk. A false affidavit that causes harm to another party, such as an unjustified arrest or a wrongful civil judgment, can expose you to a civil lawsuit for damages. Courts have broad discretion to strike false affidavits, sanction the filer, and refer the matter for criminal prosecution. If you are not certain a statement is true, keep it out.