What Is a Declaration Under Penalty of Perjury in California?

A declaration under penalty of perjury in California is a written statement of facts you sign to confirm its truth, and under Code of Civil Procedure Section 2015.5 it carries the same legal weight as a notarized affidavit without the notary.¹ You prepare it yourself, sign it, and file or submit it. The signature does the work an oath used to do, and it exposes you to felony perjury charges if you knowingly include false statements of material fact.

Three things sit outside this framework and still need their traditional procedures: depositions, oaths of office, and oaths required before a specific official other than a notary.¹

The Exact Language You Have to Use

Section 2015.5 says the declaration “may be in substantially the following form.” Minor wording differences won’t automatically sink a declaration, but sticking close to the statutory form avoids fights you don’t need to have.¹ The required certification goes at the end of the document, directly above your signature.

If You Sign the Declaration Inside California

Use this closing line:

“I certify (or declare) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.”

Below it, write the date and the place of signing (city and state), then sign.¹

If You Sign the Declaration Outside California

The language has to invoke California law specifically:

“I certify (or declare) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.”

Add the date and your signature. The place of execution isn’t required.¹ The reference to California law is what gives an out-of-state declaration its enforceability in a California proceeding.

Personal Knowledge Is Not Optional

The correct closing language only works if what sits above it is based on your personal knowledge. That means you observed it, experienced it, or directly know it. Things someone else told you, things you assume, and events you didn’t witness do not belong in a declaration.

This rule bites hardest in motion practice. Code of Civil Procedure Section 437c(d) requires declarations supporting or opposing a motion for summary judgment to be “made by a person on personal knowledge” and to “set forth admissible evidence.”² A judge can strike hearsay statements from your declaration, and if those statements were carrying your motion, you lose the motion.

A simple test as you draft: every sentence should finish the thought “I personally know this because…” If you can’t finish it, cut the sentence.

Where You’ll Actually File One

Declarations run through California court filings constantly. In civil litigation, they give judges the factual record needed to decide motions without a trial. In family law, almost every substantive filing uses one, and the Judicial Council builds the penalty-of-perjury language directly into its standardized forms.

The Income and Expense Declaration (Form FL-150), used in divorce and support cases, is signed under penalty of perjury to confirm your financial disclosures.³ For general use, Form MC-030 is a blank template you fill in with your facts and file.⁴ Outside the courts, state agencies use the same mechanism on applications, benefit claims, and licensing paperwork. Any government form that asks you to sign under penalty of perjury is a declaration under Section 2015.5.

Can You Sign Electronically?

Generally yes. California’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, codified at Civil Code Section 1633.7, provides that a signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic, and that an electronic signature satisfies a legal signature requirement.⁵ Many California courts accept electronically filed declarations.

Before you rely on an e-signature, check the local rules of the specific court or the requirements of the specific agency. Some still require wet-ink signatures on originals, and e-filing rules can differ from the general UETA baseline.

Federal Court Uses a Different Form

If your matter is in federal court, Section 2015.5 doesn’t apply. You’ll use 28 U.S.C. § 1746, which permits unsworn declarations with “like force and effect” as sworn affidavits but requires its own wording.⁶

For documents signed inside the United States, the federal form reads: “I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on (date).” For documents signed outside the United States, add “under the laws of the United States of America.”⁶ The geographic trigger is different: California distinguishes in-state from out-of-state; federal law distinguishes inside the U.S. from outside it. Filing CCP 2015.5 language in federal court can get the document rejected.

What Happens If You Lie

Knowingly making a false statement in a declaration is perjury under Penal Code Section 118. The statute reaches anyone who declares under penalty of perjury and “willfully states as true any material matter which he or she knows to be false.”⁷ Two elements matter. The false statement has to be material, meaning it could affect the outcome, not just be inaccurate on something trivial. And you have to know it was false. An honest mistake is not perjury.

Perjury is a felony. Under Penal Code Section 126, the punishment is imprisonment for two, three, or four years, with additional fines possible.⁸

The consequences inside the case can be just as damaging in practice. A judge can strike the false declaration from the record, which pulls the factual foundation out from under whatever motion or claim it supported. Courts can also impose monetary sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure Section 128.7, which authorizes penalties against attorneys, firms, or parties who submit papers containing false factual contentions.⁹ And once a court has seen you sign a false declaration, your credibility in that case and in future proceedings is extraordinarily hard to recover.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2015.5
2
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 437c
3
Judicial Council of California. Form FL-150 – Income and Expense Declaration
4
Judicial Council of California. Form MC-030 – Declaration
5
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 1633.7
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury
7
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code Section 118
8
California eLaws. California Penal Code Section 126
9
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 128.7