Could a Texas recorded document combine a jurat and acknowledgment in one notary paragraph, and did the county clerk have to review the jurat?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1988. Ezel answers yours: what it means for your facts, under current Texas law, with citations.
Texas AG Opinion JM-883: A Jurat May Appear Inside an Acknowledgment
Plain-English summary
Lubbock County asked whether a notary paragraph could combine a jurat and an acknowledgment. A jurat certified that the signer swore to the writing; an acknowledgment recorded the signer's declaration that the instrument was executed for its stated purpose.
The Attorney General said the two did not have to appear separately. The submitted form recited that the signer had sworn to the truth of the statements, included the required acknowledgment recitals, and was signed and sealed by a notary.
The county clerk's role was narrow. Property Code section 11.004 required the clerk to record an authorized instrument that was proved or acknowledged according to law, and section 12.001 supplied the recording requirements. The clerk did not decide whether an affidavit was correct or whether its jurat was substantively sufficient.
A clerk who violated section 11.004 could face a civil penalty of up to $500, reinforcing the ministerial duty to record qualifying instruments rather than evaluate their legal effect.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1988. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Common questions
Could the jurat and acknowledgment be in one paragraph?
Yes. The opinion found no reason they had to appear separately.
What was a jurat?
A certificate by an authorized officer that the signer swore to the writing.
What was an acknowledgment?
A declaration establishing execution of an instrument for legal validity. Exact words were not required if the language conveyed the necessary facts.
Did the county clerk decide whether the jurat was legally sufficient?
No. The clerk's function was ministerial and focused on whether the instrument met the statutory recording requirements.
Could the rest of the instrument help show a sufficient acknowledgment?
Yes. The opinion cited authority allowing the attached instrument to be considered when evaluating the acknowledgment.
Background and statutory framework
Property Code section 12.001 allowed recording of an instrument concerning property if it was acknowledged or proved according to law and imposed additional execution requirements for conveyances of real property. Section 11.004 directed the county clerk to record qualifying instruments and imposed a civil penalty for violation.
Attorney General Opinion O-4622 (1942) had said a jurat made a writing an affidavit and that an affidavit had to be acknowledged before the clerk was required to record it. JM-883 clarified that this did not require separate certificates or make the clerk responsible for reviewing the jurat's correctness.
Hill v. Floating Decks of America, Inc., 590 S.W.2d 723, 729 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio 1979, no writ), defined a jurat. Williams v. Cruse, 130 S.W.2d 908 (Tex. Civ. App. - Beaumont 1939, writ ref'd), allowed acknowledgment language that conveyed the required meaning without exact words. Sheldon v. Farinacci, 535 S.W.2d 938 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio 1976, no writ), allowed consideration of the attached instrument.
Citations
Statutory authority:
- Property Code sections 11.004 and 12.001
- Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 121.004
- Business & Commerce Code provisions on financing statements and security agreements
Cases:
- Hill v. Floating Decks of America, Inc., 590 S.W.2d 723, 729 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio 1979, no writ)
- Benge v. Foster, 47 S.W.2d 862 (Tex. Civ. App. - Amarillo 1932, writ ref'd)
- Williams v. Cruse, 130 S.W.2d 908 (Tex. Civ. App. - Beaumont 1939, writ ref'd)
- Sheldon v. Farinacci, 535 S.W.2d 938 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio 1976, no writ)
Prior Attorney General materials referenced: O-4622 (1942), JM-727 (1987), JM-694 (1987), JM-166 (1984), and JM-533 (1986).
Source
- Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-883
- Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1988/jm0883.pdf
Original opinion text
Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Obvious character-level OCR errors have been corrected, but minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.
April 5, 1988
Honorable Travis S. Ware Opinion No. JM-883
Criminal District Attorney
Civil Division Re: Requirements of acknow-
P. O. Box 10536 ledgment and jurat in
Lubbock, Texas 79408 instruments recorded by a
county clerk (RQ-1339)
Dear Mr. Ware:
You ask whether a jurat may be included within an
acknowledgment. A jurat is a certificate added to an
affidavit stating when, before whom, and where it was
made, while an acknowledgment is a declaration of a fact
to give it legal validity. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate
Dictionary. *
Hill v. Floating Decks of America, Inc., 590 S.W.2d 723, 729 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio, 1979,
no writ). You have submitted a document in which the
substance of the jurat and the acknowledgment are combined
in a single paragraph over the notary's signature and
seal. Your concern is that an instrument which contains a
combination of the two places a greater burden on the
county clerk in examining the instrument to determine if
there is compliance with the requisites of both affidavits
and acknowledgments.
Section 12.001 of the Property Code provides:
(a) An instrument concerning real
personal property may be recorded if it has
been acknowledged or proved according to
law.
(b) An instrument conveying real property
may not be recorded unless it is signed and
acknowledged by the grantor in the presence
of two or more credible subscribing witness-
es or acknowledged before and certified by
an officer authorized to take acknowledg-
ments.
p. 4313
Honorable Travis S. Ware - Page 2 (JM-883)
(c) This section does not require the
acknowledgment or prohibit the recording of
a financing statement, a security agreement
filed as a financing statement, or a
continuation statement filed for record
under the Business & Commerce Code.
You cite Attorney General Opinion O-4622 (1942) as
authority for the proposition that before certain
instruments can be recorded, they must be both sworn to
and acknowledged.
In Attorney General Opinion O-4622 it was stated:
Under Article 6626 of Revised Civil
Statutes the only instruments which are
entitled to be recorded are those that have
been either acknowledged as provided by
Article 6603 of the Revised Civil Statutes
or those proved under the provisions of
Article 6612, 6613 and 6614 of the Revised
Civil Statutes [these requirements now
appear in section 12.001 of the Property
Code].
You ask whether an affidavit, in order to
be recorded should have a jurat and also an
acknowledgment. It takes the jurat to make
the instrument an affidavit. Before the
County Clerk can be required to record an
affidavit it must be acknowledged.
In addressing the responsibilities of the district
and county clerk in filing instruments, Attorney General
Opinion JM-727, (1987) stated:
The courts and this office have
repeatedly characterized the powers and
duties of the district clerk and county
clerk as ministerial functions. See Benge
v. Foster 47 S.W.2d 862 (Tex. Civ. App. -
Amarillo 1932, writ ref'd): Attorney General
Opinion Nos. JM-694 (1987); JM-166 (1984);
a Attorney General Opinion JM-533 (1986). 7
p. 4314
Honorable Travis S. Ware - Page 3 (JM-883)
Section 11.004 of the Property Code provides in
relevant part:
(a) A county clerk shall:
(1) correctly record, as required by
law, within a reasonable time after
delivery, any instrument authorized or
required to be recorded in that clerk's
office that is proved or acknowledged
according to law;
Neither Attorney General Opinion O-4622 nor the
statutes place any responsibility upon the county clerk to
determine the correctness of an affidavit or its jurat
contained in an instrument presented to the county clerk
for recording. Section 11.004 requires the clerk to
record "any instrument authorized or required to be
recorded in that clerk's office that is proved or acknow-
ledged according to law." Subsection' (b) of section
11.004 provides that a county clerk who violates any
provision of this section is subject to civil penalty of
P
not more than $500.00. It is not the responsibility of
the county clerk to determine if an affidavit contained in
an acknowledgment has the required jurat.
A jurat has been defined as "a certificate by a
competent officer that the writing was sworn to by the
person who signed it." Hill v. Floating Decks of America,
Inc., 590 S.W. at 729. An acknowledgment does not require
the exact words as long as it contains language which
possesses the requisite meaning or represents the same
facts. Williams v. Cruse 130 S.W.2d 908 (Tex. Civ. App.
- Beaumont 1939, writ ref'd). The instrument to which the
acknowledgment is attached may be considered in determin-
ing the sufficiency of the acknowledgment. Sheldon v.
Farinacci, 535 S.W.2d 938 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio
1976, no writ). The specimen acknowledgment you have
submitted contains the recitation "who after swearing to
the truth of the statements contained herein" preceding
the requisite acknowledgment recitations and reflects that
it is duly signed under the hand and seal of a notary
public. See section 121.004 Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem.
p. 4315
Honorable Travis S. Ware - Page 4 JM-883)
Code.1 No reason is perceived why a jurat may not appear
in an acknowledgment. It is unnecessary to answer your
second question since it is predicated on an answer to
your first inquiry that a jurat and acknowledgment must
appear separately on an instrument.
A jurat may be included within an acknowledgment. It
is not the function of the county clerk to determine the
sufficiency of a jurat appearing in an instrument that
meets the requirements for recording set forth in section
12.001 of the Property Code.
SUMMARY
A jurat may be included within an
acknowledgment. It is not the function of
the county clerk to determine the sufficien-
cy of a jurat appearing in an instrument
that meets the requirements for recording
set forth in section 12.001 of the Property
Code.
JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas
1. Section 121.004 sets forth the method of
acknowledgment, as follows:
(a) To acknowledge a written instrument for recording,
the grantor or person who executed the instrument must
appear before an officer and must state that he executed
the instrument for the purposes and consideration
expressed in it.
(b) The officer shall:
(1) make a certificate of the acknowledgment:
(2) sign the certificate: and
(3) seal the certificate with the seal of
office.
p. 4316
Honorable Travis S. Ware - Page 5 (JM-883)
MARY KELLER
First Assistant Attorney General
LOU MCCREARY
Executive Assistant Attorney General
JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY
Special Assistant Attorney General
RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee
Prepared by Tom G. Davis
Assistant Attorney General
p. 4317
Get today's answer for your situation
You just read a 1988 opinion on this question. Ezel checks the current Texas statutes and case law and answers your specific situation, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the law it relies on.