Fillable Form Affidavit of Scrivener's Error

What is an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error?

An Affidavit of Scrivener's Error is a document used to correct drafting or scrivener’s errors in recorded or filed legal documents, such as deeds, contracts, and other written agreements. It contains the descriptions and corrections of the scrivener's errors, the affiant's oath, and the acknowledgment of a notary public.

Scrivener's errors include technical mistakes, such as omitted letters or words in legal descriptions and misspelled names or addresses of the parties involved in an agreement.

How to fill out an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error?

Review all information before you sign and file your Affidavit of Scrivener’s Error.

STATE OF

Enter the state where the Affidavit of Scrivener's Error will be filed.

COUNTY OF

Enter the county where the Affidavit of Scrivener's Error will be filed.

Affiant

Enter your name.

1. That I am an employee of

Enter the name of the individual, organization, or company you work for.

With the authority of

Enter the person or entity's name that prepared, completed, or was associated with the original instrument.

2. I have personal knowledge of the facts and matters stated herein

In this term, you declare that you understand the previously executed legal document and have actual knowledge to testify and correct its minor errors.

3. That the following instrument, through inadvertence, mistake, and error, contains a scrivener's error within the legal description.

Enter the scrivener's errors on the original instrument or document.

Instrument

Enter the original instrument's name.

Grantors

Enter the grantors' names as drafted on the original instrument.

Grantee

Enter the grantees' names as drafted on the original instrument.

Date of Instrument

Enter the recorded date of the original instrument.

Recorded in Book

Enter the name of the book where the scrivener's error on the original instrument was recorded.

Recorded at Page

Enter the book page where the scrivener's error on the original instrument was recorded.

Date Recorded

Enter the original instrument's recording date.

4. County of

Enter the county where you will file your Affidavit of Scrivener's Error.

State of

Enter the state where you will file your Affidavit of Scrivener's Error.

To correct

Enter the description of each error in the original document.

5. The correct legal description should read as follows

Enter your corrections of each error in the original document.

Affiant

Enter your name and signature.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BY INDIVIDUAL

This section is for the notary public's use only.

STATE OF

Enter the state where the Affidavit of Scrivener's Error will be filed.

COUNTY OF

Enter the county where the Affidavit of Scrivener's Error will be filed.

On this day of

Enter the date you witnessed the affiant signing the Affidavit of Scrivener's Error.

Before me appeared

Enter the affiant's name.

Notary Public

Enter your name.

My commission expires

Enter your commission’s expiration date.

What is a scrivener?

A scrivener is an individual who writes legal documents, such as contracts, court letters, deeds, and other written agreements. He or she also helps clients understand or interpret provisions or judicial terms.

A scrivener may be a clerk, lawyer, scribe, notary, or professional copyist or writer.

Hiring a scrivener is essential, especially for individuals who need to prepare formal or legal documents but cannot understand their terms or provisions. Some countries with low literacy rates hire scriveners for this purpose.

What is a scrivener’s error?

A scrivener's error is any unintentional and minor mistake made by a scrivener in drafting a legal document. Specifically, a scrivener's error pertains to:

• omission of grantee's address in a deed;
• misspelled address;
• incorrect or missing middle initial;
• misspelled name of parties;
• misspelled legal type or state of domicile of entities; or
• omission of one or more words in other legal descriptions.

A court recognizes a scrivener's error as clear errors or technical mistakes that do not cause misinterpretation or alteration on the original document's rationale.

When to use an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error?

An Affidavit of Scrivener's Error is used when minor errors are unintentionally made on drafted legal papers, contracts, and other written agreements. Incorrect spelling of or omission of letters or words in names, addresses, and legal descriptions are considered minor errors.

An Affidavit of Scrivener's Error is used to correct minor errors, not alter or change a term in an original instrument or document. For instance, a scrivener has recorded an incorrect state on the filed contract. It changes the whole agreement as the state determines its governing laws. In such a case, filing an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error is futile as the error has caused a substantial change in the original document. The parties need to execute and file a new contract or document. It also applies to changing an incorrect amount of compensation, property sale price, and other terms in a contract.

Although scriveners are professional, they may have technical mistakes in filing legal documents. An Affidavit of Scrivener's Error helps individuals correct these minor and unintentional errors to avoid the hassle of re-executing or rewriting the original document.

How to file an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error?

To correct typographical or minor errors in an original instrument, the affiant must file an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error before a notary public. It is a requirement under U.S. law. Without the acknowledgment of a notary public, the court may deny the affiant's appeal.

Submit the Affidavit of Scrivener's Error and the original document to the court.

Who can file an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error?

The only person who can correct a scrivener's error is the one who made it or wrote the original instrument. To do this, he or she must file an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error.

However, certain individuals can execute an Affidavit of Scrivener's Error, including but not limited to:

• a mortgagee or beneficiary's attorney or employee to correct an error on a mortgage or deed of trust;
• a principal or grantor or his or her attorney to correct an error on a Power of Attorney (POA) or an easement; and
• a licensed attorney representing a party to the original instrument to correct an error affecting the title or ownership of a real estate.