If the defendant is an individual, this affidavit must be filed before a default judgment may be entered. There are no Texas cases, statutes, or rules on this requirement, and it is not consistently enforced throughout the state. See section 20.24 in this chapter. The affidavit may be signed by the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney, but the party signing the affidavit should not swear to any facts about which he does not have personal knowledge. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act imposes penalties including fines, imprisonment, or both on a person who knowingly makes or uses a false affidavit concerning a defendant’s military service. 50 U.S.C. § 3912(c). See the caveat at section 19.17:3 in this manual.
[Caption. See § 3 of the Introduction in volume 1 of this manual.]
Nonmilitary Affidavit
BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared [name of affiant], who swore on oath that the following facts are true:
“I am [Plaintiff/attorney of record for Plaintiff] in the above-entitled and -numbered cause. To my knowledge, based on a review of records related to this case [include if applicable: , the attached Military Status Report from the Department of Defense Manpower Data Center,] and my involvement in this case, [name of defendant], Defendant, was not in military service when this suit was filed, has not been in military service at any time since then, and is not now in any military service of the United States of America.”
[Name of affiant]
Affiant
SIGNED under oath before me on ___________________________________.
Notary Public, State of Texas
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Attach to the motion for entry of default judgment (form 20-1). Attach military status report if applicable. |