Opinion No.

Honorable Travis S. Ware Criminal District Attorney Civil Division P.O. Box 10536 Lubbock, Texas 79408

Re: Requirements of acknowledgment and jurat in 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. See Hill v. Floating Docks of America, Inc., 590 S.W.2d 723, 729 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio, 1979, no…