Rule 14.Written Verifications and Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury

Rule 14 answers a narrow practical question: when does a signature have to be notarized?

The four

A written verification — a sworn statement before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer an oath — is required for exactly four things:

• an acceptance of service under Rule 40(f)(1);
• an affidavit supporting an application for a default decree;
• a consent decree under Rule 45; and
• a stipulation or agreement that substantially changes the terms of a legal decision-making or parenting time order — unless entered in open court or through conciliation services.

The Arizona Supreme Court may modify these requirements by administrative order.

The alternative to a notary

Subsection (b) allows any of those documents to be filed without notarization if accompanied by a photocopy of the filer's driver license or other government-issued identification. The applicant must redact a protected address and any sensitive data as defined by Rule 43.1(f) from the identification document.

The clerk may keep the photocopy as a confidential record with limited availability. But note the exception: if the alternative verification is attached to the document containing the signature, the clerk must not treat it as confidential and must not limit its availability — so how the ID copy is submitted determines whether it stays private. A party filing with the alternative verification attached must redact all sensitive data before filing.

Everywhere else

Except for the four items in (a) and the alternative in (b), a verification requirement is satisfied by an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, signed and substantially in this form: "I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Dated: ______ Signature: ______".