Happy family

Find a legal form in minutes

Browse US Legal Forms’ largest database of 85k state and industry-specific legal forms.

Jurat

A jurat is the name given to the clause at the foot of an affidavit showing when, where, and before whom the actual oath was sworn or affirmation was made.  In executing a jurat, a notary guarantees that the signer personally appeared before the notary, was given an oath or affirmation attesting to the truthfulness of the document, and signed the document in the notary’s presence.  It is always important that the notary positively identify a signer for a jurat, as s/he is certifying that the signer attested to the truthfulness of the document contents under penalty of perjury.  However, jurat notarizations do not prove a document is true, legal, valid or enforceable.

SS. (or ss.) means “scilicet” from the latin scire licet and translates to “it is permitted to, to wit, or namely”, and is placed in a jurat to indicate the location of the signing of the instrument.  If this section of the jurat is absent, it does not invalidate the instrument.  It merely serves to indicate the jurisdiction of the notary, which depends on the jurisdiction or city in which he/she is appointed.  SS. may also be used to refer to an abbreviation of the phrase “subscribed and sworn to”.

A jurat is typically in the following form:

“Sworn and subscribed before me, on the ___ day of ___, 2005, Notary Public.”


Inside Jurat