What does further affiant sayeth not mean?
When is it used and is it necessary?
Is it “further affiant sayeth not” or “further affiant sayeth naught”?
In this article, we will break down the phrase “further affiant sayeth not” so you know all there is to know about it
We will look at the further affiant sayeth not legal definition, when it is used, why it is used, is it necessary to use it, is it sayeth or saith, is it not or naught, look at examples and more.
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The phrases “further affiant sayeth not” or “further affiant sayeth not” are legalese typically used at the end of affidavits, a sworn document.
Its literal meaning is “the affiant says nothing further” or “the affiant has nothing further to say”.
In other words, the affidavit or deposition reflects what the affiant has said and there is nothing else to add under oath.
This begs the question, is it really necessary to end an affidavit by saying that the person making the statement has nothing else to add?
The short answer is no.
In a nutshell, it’s not necessary to end affidavits by stating “further affiant sayeth not”
A document does not need to expressly say that it is ending or the person making a statement has nothing else to say.
The field of law is precedent-based and is highly conservative.
We have old English legalese still used in modern legal writing such as:
Attorneys, lawyers and legal professionals prefer to do things the way it was done.
Many are moving away from old, complicated and even non-essential legalese in an attempt to use simple and plain English to express legal concepts.
The ideal approach is to move away from complicated legalese and use terms and phrases in plain English so a non-legal person can understand.
According to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, further affiant sayeth naught (same thing as further affiant sayeth not) is defined as:
A centuries-old statement that is still used on some legal documents such as pleadings as the final declaration prior to the affiant’s signature.
What is notable with this definition is that it’s an old way of writing that is still used and particularly as the final statement of an affiant in an affidavit.
There are many variations of the phrase ‘further affiant sayeth not’, such as:
Is it sayeth naught or sayeth not?
To answer this question, let’s look at the literal meaning of the phrase “further affiant sayeth not” vs “further affiant sayeth naught”.
First, the term “naught” is an old English term to say “nothing” whereas we all know what “not” means.
Literally, further affiant sayeth not means “the affiant says not further” whereas further affiant sayeth naught means “the affiant says nothing further”.
The proper phrase is “further affiant sayeth naught”
From a literal standpoint, the proper phrase is further affiant sayeth naught.
However, in American legal literature, “further affiant sayeth not” is more common.
Is it sayeth or saith?
Both saith or sayeth can be used although in the American legal literature, “sayeth” is used more often.
“Saith” and “sayeth” represent the archaic present tense third-person singular of the term “say”.
In old English, adding -eth to a term was used to write a verb in its third-person singular inflection.
An example is “witnesseth”.
Today, this way of writing is obsolete.
The term “affiant” means a person who makes a statement under oath or swears that a statement is true.
In American law, a person making a statement under oath is typically referred to as a “deponent” and not an “affiant”.
Nonetheless, the phrase “affiant sayeth not” is occasionally used by American lawyers and attorneys to end an affidavit.
You can equally use “deponent sayeth not”.
Here is an example of how the further affiant sayeth naught statement appears at the end of an Affidavit”
The phrase further affiant sayeth not is used at the end of an affidavit or deposition to indicate that the person has finished making his or her statements under oath and has nothing else to add under oath.
The classical way of ending an affidavit is to state that the affiant has nothing else to say using the phrase “further affiant sayeth naught” or any variations.
American lawyers tend to use “further affiant sayeth not” more often although literally speaking, it does not make sense.
Literally, it means “the affiant says ‘not’ further”.
What you want to say is “the affiant says ‘nothing’ further”.
In modern law, you can end an affidavit by writing something like: “the affiant declares that the statements made herein are true”
The short answer is no.
It is not necessary to end an affidavit with a statement saying that you are ending an affidavit.
Just like any other legal document such as contracts or letters, typically, anything stated or written before the signature block is considered to be what the signatory was expressing.
Should the signatory state that they have nothing else to say or nothing else to add before they sign?
The obvious answer is no.
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