What does it mean to verily believe something in an affidavit?

The phrase “I verily believe” or “I am informed and verily believe” is often seen in affidavits. In fact, lawyers love to say they “verily believe” all kinds of things!

So what does the phrase “I verily believe” actually mean? And should you really be using it in affidavits?

AD: Need to transfer money or property owed by you to another person? Click here to use this form to easily transfer your property.

The word “verily” is a Middle English word dating from about 1250. It means “truly” or “in truth.” Therefore to “verily believe” something simply means to “truly believe” something.

Should you use “verily believe” in an affidavit?

While we still use many words dating back to Middle English times, “verily” is not one of them. You might encounter it in an ancient hymn, but it is not part of everyday language – formal or informal. The word is considered archaic these days.

The information above is all you really need to determine whether to use “verily” in an affidavit. The answer is no!

Because “verily” is that it is not a word that the person making the affidavit (the affiant) would ever use themselves, it does not make any sense to include it in their evidence. This includes lawyers! Affidavits should use the words of the affiant wherever possible.

There’s another great reason for abandoning this phrase for good. That is because “verily” does not add anything to “believe”: if a person making an affidavit swears on oath that they believe something then it is implied that they truly believe it. The entire affidavit should contain only matters the person making it truly believes are correct!