Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Washington

Re: Affirming Affidavit

A "Declaration Under Penalty of Perjury " in Washington is generally given the same legal impact as an affidavit, but real estate documents that are required to be signed under oath generally require an affidavit format instead of a declaration in order to be recorded. A Declaration requires the language that is substantially the same as "signed under penalty of perjury according to the laws of the State of Washington" together with the date and city of signing. Washington declarations may not be valid, even in Washington, if signed out of state. There are other exceptions too numerous to include here. The proper format and style of an oath of signature of a document all needs to be based on a particular context of what, when, and why a signature of a document needs to be sworn to or acknowledged.