Colorado Jurat Certificate: Verification on Oath or Affirmation Wording

This content is educational and informational, not legal advice. Requirements reflect the Colorado Revised Statutes 24-21-501 et seq. and the Colorado Notary Handbook, but the law can change. Confirm current requirements with the Colorado Secretary of State before relying on this.

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Fillable Colorado jurat certificate

Enter the details and the certificate updates live with the Colorado wording. Switch to the oath tab for a script you can adopt and use consistently, since the state does not supply one.

What does Colorado call a jurat?

A verification on oath or affirmation. Colorado adopted the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts effective July 1, 2018, and the modern statute uses that longer name for what notaries and the public still call a jurat. The act proves that the signer personally appeared, established identity, signed in the notary's presence, and swore or affirmed to the truthfulness of the document. Unlike an acknowledgment, it can only be completed if the document is signed in front of the notary. Older Colorado forms citing the repealed CRS 12-55-110 still circulate; the current citation is CRS 24-21-516.

What is the Colorado jurat wording?

The certificate names the state and county, the date, and the signer, then carries the notary's stamp and expiration date.

What oath does a Colorado notary have to say?

Whatever wording you choose, because the statute is silent. CRS 24-21-505(2) gives Colorado notaries the power to administer oaths and affirmations but provides no specific instructions or wording for the purpose. The Secretary of State's handbook therefore advises adopting wording that both the notary and the client can understand, and using it consistently rather than improvising each time. To turn an affirmation into an oath, substitute the word "swear" for "affirm" and add "so help you God" at the end. The client must actually hear it and respond.

What is the most common Colorado jurat mistake?

Skipping the oath entirely. The Secretary of State's handbook is blunt about it: many notaries watch the signing and fill out the notarial certificate but omit the most important part of a jurat, the administration of the oath or affirmation. The result is that a client may sign a document without even being aware they are supposedly swearing to it, and may not have read the document closely enough to swear to anything. The certificate then states something that did not happen. All three steps, appearance, signature, and oath, must take place in your physical presence.

Must a Colorado signer sign the document in front of the notary?

Yes, and one specific shortcut gets flagged by the Secretary of State as a common mistake: having the client sign the notary journal in your presence, but not the document itself. The certificate then states the document was signed and affirmed before you, which makes it an inaccurate statement. The client's signature must appear on the document, above the certificate. A journal entry records the act; it does not substitute for watching the signature that the certificate describes.

Does a Colorado notary have to check the signer understands?

Yes, at a basic level, and this duty applies regardless of which notarial act you are performing. The handbook instructs a Colorado notary to check that the client has basic comprehension of the document being signed, and to stop if the client is obviously drunk, drugged, otherwise disoriented, or too ill to communicate. That is not the same as reading or explaining the document, which stays outside a notary's role. It is a competence check: a person who cannot understand what they are signing cannot meaningfully swear that its contents are true.

Published June 13, 2026 by the Trámites Notariales US editorial team. Sources: Colorado Revised Statutes 24-21-505 and 24-21-516; the Colorado Notary Handbook and notary common-mistakes guidance, Colorado Secretary of State. Confirm current requirements before relying on this.