To get a sworn statement notarized, draft the statement in full but leave it unsigned, bring it to a notary public along with a valid government-issued photo ID, swear or affirm before the notary that the contents are true, and sign it in their presence. The notary then completes the jurat block, applies an official seal, and logs the act in their journal. The appointment usually takes under fifteen minutes, and in most states the fee runs between $2 and $15 per signature.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury
Draft the Statement Before You Go
A notary will not help you write the statement, and a document with problems in its structure can be refused or later rejected by whoever asked for it. Get the drafting right first, then book the appointment.
Header and Identification
Start with the venue at the top of the page, formatted as “State of [Name], County of [Name].” Below it, put a title such as “Sworn Statement of Jane Doe.”
The opening paragraph identifies you as the affiant. A standard opening reads: “I, Jane Doe, being of lawful age, do hereby state the following under oath.” Include your full legal name and current address. Some requesting parties also want a date of birth.
The Facts
Write the body in the first person, in chronological order, with each paragraph numbered so a reader can point to a specific section.
Stick to what you personally saw, heard, or did. Federal evidence rules require testimony to be based on personal knowledge, and the same principle applies here. Leave out opinions, guesses, and anything someone else told you. Hearsay carries little weight; firsthand detail is what makes a sworn statement useful.
Oath Clause and Signature Block
After the final fact paragraph, add an oath clause confirming everything above is true. For federal matters, the language prescribed by statute is: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [date].”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury Many state courts accept similar wording with slight variations, so follow any instructions the requesting party gave you.
Below the oath clause, leave a blank signature line with your printed name underneath, followed by a date line. Do not sign yet. The notary has to watch you sign, and a pre-signed document cannot receive a jurat.
Finally, leave space for the notary block. You don’t fill this in. The notary will complete it with language along the lines of “Sworn to and subscribed before me this ___ day of ___, 20___,” followed by their signature, printed name, commission expiration date, and official seal.
What to Bring and What Happens at the Appointment
The notary is verifying three things at the appointment: that you are who you claim to be, that you are signing willingly, and that you have sworn the contents are true.
Photo ID
Bring a valid, government-issued photo ID. A driver’s license, passport, or state identification card all work. The notary will compare the photo and name on the ID against you and the document. If the name on your ID doesn’t match the name on the sworn statement exactly, the notary may refuse to proceed, so check this before you leave the house.
The Oath or Affirmation
The notary will ask you to swear or affirm that the contents of your statement are true. An oath typically invokes a higher power (“Do you swear that the statements in this document are true, so help you God?”). An affirmation is a secular alternative with identical legal force (“Do you affirm that the statements in this document are true and correct?”). You can choose either, and the notary is required to offer the alternative if you prefer it. Both carry the same perjury consequences.
Signing and Sealing
After the oath, you sign the document in front of the notary. The notary then completes the jurat, signs it, and applies their official seal or stamp. Most states also require the notary to record the act in a journal, noting your name, the date, the type of document, and the type of identification you presented.
Keep in mind that a notary is not reviewing your statement for accuracy, legal sufficiency, or grammar. Their role is limited to confirming your identity and witnessing your oath and signature. If the content has real legal weight, have an attorney review it before the appointment.
Where to Find a Notary and What It Costs
Notaries are easier to find than most people expect. Banks and credit unions often have one on staff and provide the service free to account holders. UPS Store locations, law offices, real estate offices, and shipping centers are other common options. Public libraries and some government offices, including courthouses, also sometimes offer the service.
Notary fees are capped by state law, and the maximums are modest. Most states set the ceiling between $5 and $15 per notarial act. A few states, including Georgia and New York, cap fees at $2. Rhode Island allows up to $25. Some states, including Alaska, Iowa, and Kentucky, don’t set a maximum at all, so the notary can charge what the market bears.
Mobile notaries will come to your home, office, or hospital room. Travel fees sit on top of the standard per-signature charge and typically push the total cost of a mobile appointment into the $75 to $200 range depending on distance and time of day.
One boundary worth flagging before you pick someone: a notary cannot notarize a document in which they have a direct financial interest, and many states also bar notaries from acting for a spouse, parent, child, or other close relative. Even where the practice is technically allowed, any appearance of partiality gives the other side a way to challenge the notarization later. If your first choice is a relative or someone who benefits from the document, use a different notary.
Remote Online Notarization
If you can’t get to a notary in person, remote online notarization is now available in the vast majority of states. As of 2025, roughly 47 states have enacted laws authorizing notarizations conducted over a live audio-video connection. The process mirrors an in-person appointment, with extra identity verification to compensate for the lack of physical presence.
A typical remote session works like this: you upload the unsigned document to the notarization platform, then join a live video call with the notary. Before the session proceeds, the platform runs a credential analysis on your government-issued ID, checking its security features against the issuing agency’s records. You also complete a knowledge-based authentication quiz drawn from public records, and you need to answer at least 80 percent correctly to pass. Once verified, the notary administers the oath, you apply an electronic signature, and the notary applies an electronic seal.
Not every requesting party accepts remotely notarized documents. Some courts, title companies, and government agencies still require ink-on-paper originals. If your sworn statement is for a specific proceeding, confirm with the requesting party that a remote version will be accepted before you schedule the session.
When You May Not Need a Notary at All
Federal law offers a shortcut many people miss. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1746, any matter in a federal proceeding that would normally require a sworn, notarized statement can instead be supported by an unsworn written declaration signed under penalty of perjury.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury If your statement is going to a federal court or federal agency, you can skip the notary by including the statutory language: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.”
This exception does not apply to depositions or to oaths required before a specific official other than a notary.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury It also does not automatically apply in state courts, though some states have adopted similar rules. Ask whoever requested the statement whether notarization is required. Getting a document notarized when it doesn’t need to be wastes time but causes no harm. Skipping notarization when it’s required can get the statement rejected at the worst possible moment.
Perjury Consequences
The oath you take before the notary is not a formality. A sworn statement carries the weight of testimony given in court, and lying in one is a federal crime. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1621, anyone who willfully states something they don’t believe to be true in a sworn declaration or under a penalty-of-perjury clause faces up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1621 – Perjury Generally State perjury statutes carry their own penalties, which vary but are universally treated as felonies.
The word to focus on is “willfully.” An honest mistake or a faulty memory is not perjury. Deliberately misstating facts, omitting material information you know is relevant, or swearing to things you have no firsthand knowledge of can all cross the line. That is why sticking to personal knowledge in the drafting stage matters so much.
Delivering the Finished Document
Once the notary completes the jurat, your sworn statement is a fully executed legal document. The original, with wet signatures and the notary’s seal, is the version that carries the most weight. Make photocopies or scan the completed document for your own records before handing off the original.
Deliver the original to whoever requested it, following any instructions they gave you. That might mean mailing it by certified mail for a delivery record, hand-delivering it to a court clerk’s office, or uploading a scanned copy through an electronic filing system. If you were given a deadline, build in a buffer. A sworn statement that arrives a day late can be just as useless as one that was never sent.