Drafting and swearing an affidavit
An affidavit is evidence. That single fact explains nearly every rule about how one must be drafted, and nearly every reason paragraphs get struck out of one.
An affidavit is a written statement, sworn or affirmed, used as evidence in a proceeding. Because it is evidence, it is subject to the rules of evidence: a paragraph that would be inadmissible if the deponent said it from the witness box is inadmissible in an affidavit, and can be struck out with costs.
That is the discipline the drafting rules exist to enforce. First-hand knowledge rather than what someone was told. Fact rather than argument. One fact to a paragraph, numbered, in chronological order. Documents exhibited properly rather than described.
The form is prescribed by the rules of the court the affidavit is filed in, not by a single national standard, and the differences are real: the jurat wording, the annexure and exhibit conventions, page limits in some courts, and who may take the affidavit all vary. An affidavit drafted for the Supreme Court of New South Wales is not automatically in the right form for the Federal Circuit and Family Court.
These articles cover the anatomy of an affidavit, the jurat and what makes one defective, exhibits and annexures - including emails, messages and screenshots, which cause more trouble than anything else - and the specific affidavits that come up constantly: service, probate, urgent applications, and family law.
The law where your document is made
Which law your document is made under decides its form, who may witness it, and whether it can be witnessed by video link.
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