When 28 U.S.C. §1746 replaces a sworn federal statement

The 2024 United States Code text, unchanged from the 1976 enactment, applies when a law of the United States, or a rule, regulation, order, or requirement made under law, requires or permits a matter to be supported by a sworn declaration, verification, certificate, statement, oath, or affidavit in writing.

In that setting, the matter may be supported by an unsworn declaration, certificate, verification, or statement subscribed as true under penalty of perjury and dated, in substantially the statutory form.

If executed without the United States, the declaration states that it is made under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America.

If executed within the United States, its territories, possessions, or commonwealths, the shorter form states that it is made under penalty of perjury, without that extra clause.

A declaration executed outside the United States is not a remote online notarization. The overseas affidavit guide covers a signer who must complete a notarial act. Use that guide only when the paper actually requires one.

The statute excludes a deposition, an oath of office, and an oath required to be taken before a specified official other than a notary public.

It does not say that every document called an affidavit may be replaced with a declaration. A court form or a state statute can still require a jurat. California Code of Civil Procedure §2015.5 is a state analogue with its own wording. It is an example, not a 50-state rule, and it is not its own guide.

No express recipient-acceptance source was identified in the official materials reviewed. Remote online notarization is performed under the law of the online notary's commissioning state. When the commission is a Florida commission, Florida Statutes §§117.209, 117.215, and 117.265 describe the online notarial act. They do not say a court, agency, or company accepts the result.

Not sure whether your exact court or recipient form requires a notarial act? Send the unsigned document and recipient instructions for review.

Do not schedule a notarization for a signature block that is only a declaration under penalty of perjury.

No express recipient-acceptance source was identified in the official materials reviewed. Remote online notarization is performed under the law of the online notary's commissioning state.