3.3 Oaths, Affirmations, and Jurats

Oaths, Affirmations, and Jurats

Where an acknowledgment is about identity and willingness, this group of acts is about truthfulness under penalty of perjury. An oath is a solemn spoken promise that calls upon a higher power. An affirmation is the identical promise stripped of any religious reference. Both carry the same legal weight, and a false statement under either is perjury under Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-915. The notary must offer the signer a choice and never presume which form the signer wants — forcing a religious oath on someone who objects is a procedural error.

Oath vs. Affirmation

Sample Wording

Oath: "Do you solemnly swear that the statements in this document are true to the best of your knowledge, so help you God?" — Signer: "I do."

Affirmation: "Do you solemnly affirm, under penalty of perjury, that the statements in this document are true to the best of your knowledge?" — Signer: "I do."

A spoken oath or affirmation can stand alone (for example, swearing in a witness for a deposition) or be embedded in a jurat on a written document.

What Is a Jurat?

A jurat — the certificate that begins "Subscribed and sworn to before me" — is a combined act with strict ordering:

Because Step 2 requires the signature to occur in front of you, a pre-signed document cannot receive a jurat. If a signer presents an already-signed affidavit, have them re-sign in your presence (often beneath or beside the original) before you swear them in.

Jurat vs. Acknowledgment — Side by Side

Sample Jurat Wording

State of Nebraska, County of ____________ Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed) to before me on [date] by [name of signer]. [Seal] [Signature of notary public] [Printed name] Notary Public

Worked Scenario

A woman brings a financial affidavit she signed at home and asks for "a notarization." The certificate at the bottom reads "Subscribed and sworn to before me." That is a jurat, so the signature must be made before you. You ask her to sign again in your presence, verify her driver's license, offer her the choice of oath or affirmation, administer the one she picks, and only then complete and seal the certificate. Fee: $2 for the oath plus up to $5 for the certificate — but most notaries simply charge the single $5 cap.

Documents and Fees

Common Traps

• Trap: completing a jurat on a pre-signed document. Always require a fresh signature in your presence.
• Trap: assuming the religious oath. Offer the affirmation; a signer's objection must be honored.
• Trap: skipping the spoken oath. A jurat is invalid if you fill out the certificate without actually administering the oath or affirmation aloud.

Proof of Execution by a Subscribing Witness

Closely related to the jurat is the proof of execution by a subscribing witness, an act for situations where the original signer cannot appear. Suppose a contract was signed at a job site and the principal has since left the country. A person who watched the principal sign — the subscribing witness — appears before you instead. You identify the witness, place the witness under oath, and the witness swears that they saw the named principal sign the document and that they are not a party with a financial interest in it. You then complete a proof certificate. The maximum fee is $5, the same as for taking an acknowledgment.

Note the chain of trust: you are not certifying the principal's identity directly; you are certifying a sworn account from someone who observed the signing.

Putting It Together — Choosing the Right Act

Use this decision logic when a document arrives. First, read the certificate already printed on the page; its wording dictates the act, and you may not change it. If it says "acknowledged before me," perform an acknowledgment — no oath, pre-signed is fine. If it says "subscribed and sworn to before me," perform a jurat — require a fresh signature and administer the oath or affirmation. If the signer needs only to swear orally with no document to sign, administer a standalone oath or affirmation at the $2 rate. If the principal is absent but a witness saw the signing, take a proof of execution.

And if no certificate wording appears at all, stop: under 64-105.03 a non-attorney notary may not supply it, so refer the signer to an attorney or the document's issuer.

Why the Oath Must Be Spoken

Students often underestimate the spoken-oath requirement. The legal force of a jurat comes from the ceremony of swearing — a deliberate, witnessed act that impresses on the signer the seriousness of the statement and triggers perjury liability. Quietly stamping a certificate while the signer says nothing does not create a valid jurat, even if every blank is filled correctly. Always speak the oath or affirmation aloud, wait for the signer's affirmative response, and only then complete the certificate. This is also why the signer must be mentally present and competent: a person who cannot understand the oath cannot validly take it.