Standard Font Size for Affidavits in the Philippines

A practitioner-focused explainer

1. Why the question matters

An affidavit is a sworn written statement executed under oath before a notary (or other officer authorized to administer oaths). It is used everywhere—from bank disputes and visa applications to criminal prosecutions—so the document’s physical format must be acceptable to:

the notary public who will acknowledge it;
the clerk of court (or other receiving officer) if it will later be filed as an annex to a pleading; and
the government agency that will ultimately act on it (BIR, LRA, SSS, DFA, COMELEC, etc.).

Readability is therefore more than aesthetics; it is a practical safeguard against rejection or delay.

2. No single statute prescribes a universal font size

Philippine statutes and rules do not contain an affidavit-specific font rule. The governing texts—the Civil Code provisions on solemnities of contracts, Rule 132 of the Rules of Court on affidavits as evidence, and the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice—say nothing about font or point size.

Instead, font guidance is found in general-purpose issuances that occasionally apply to affidavits:

Instrument	Scope	Font Directive
A.M. No. 11-9-4-SC, “Efficient Use of Paper Rule” (EUPR, effective Jan 1 2013)	All “pleadings, motions, reports, briefs, and similar papers filed with courts and quasi-judicial bodies”	14-point easily readable font (e.g., Times New Roman or Arial); single-spaced, with 1½-space between paragraphs
A.M. No. 12-8-8-SC, “Judicial Affidavit Rule” (JAR, effective Jan 1 2013)	Affidavits intended to substitute for direct testimony in courts and quasi-judicial bodies	No express font rule, but because the affidavit becomes an integral part of a court pleading, the EUPR norm (14 pt) is followed in practice
Administrative agency templates (e.g., BIR Sworn Statement form, SEC GIS sworn certification)	Agency-specific affidavits filed directly with the agency	Usually 11–12 pt Arial or Times New Roman, following the agency’s forms library

3. Practical benchmarks used by Filipino lawyers and notaries

Scenario	“Safe-harbor” font choice	Why
Affidavit attached to any court filing (including Judicial Affidavits, annexes to complaints, motions, petitions)	14-point, Times New Roman (or Arial), single-spaced, 1½-space between paragraphs	Mirrors the EUPR; avoids re-formatting by the clerk of court
Standalone affidavit for notarization only (e.g., Sworn Statement of Assets & Liabilities, Extrajudicial Settlement)	12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Arial, single-spaced	No court filing; most notaries accept ≥ 12 pt serif or ≥ 11 pt sans-serif
Senior-citizen or PWD declarant	14-point or larger	Aligns with the Expanded Senior Citizens Act’s mandate of age-friendly documents
Filling agency-issued PDF forms	Keep the default font embedded in the form	Overwriting the default may cause auto-size glitches or rejection

4. Interaction with other formatting rules

Paper size EUPR requires 13 in × 8 ½ in (legal) or A4 (210 mm × 297 mm) paper for court filings. A purely notarized affidavit may use letter-size (11 in × 8 ½ in) because notarial law does not control paper size—but if you anticipate attaching it to a pleading later, use legal or A4 from the start.
Margins EUPR calls for 1.5 in left and 1-inch on the remaining sides. Many notaries will notarize any margin width so long as the notarial certificate and signature block fit cleanly.
Line spacing Where the EUPR applies, paragraphs are single-spaced with 1½-space between paragraphs. Outside the courts, single spacing throughout remains standard.

5. Consequences of non-compliance

Forum	Likely outcome if font is too small or inconsistent
Clerks of court	May refuse to docket the filing or issue a deficiency notice; lawyers risk penalties under the Code of Professional Responsibility for disregard of court rules.
Notaries	Rarely refuse for size alone, but unreadable text may violate the notary’s duty to ensure the signer “understands the substance” of what is sworn (2004 Notarial Rules, Sec. 1[b], Rule IV).
Administrative agencies	Could treat the affidavit as defective and require resubmission—common with the BIR when supporting documents for estate taxes are unreadable.

Importantly, defects in form rarely void an affidavit’s substantive validity unless they impede comprehension or suggest bad faith. Courts usually allow re-submission in proper form.

6. Jurisprudential notes

While no reported Philippine case turns solely on font size, several decisions emphasize readability as part of due process:

People v. Dizon, G.R. 219023 (Jan 11 2016) – judicial affidavits “must be presented in a manner comprehensible to the accused”; the Court hinted that cramped format can amount to “procedural inconvenience.”
Sherwin Gatchalian, et al. v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. 205388 (Mar 4 2015) – annexes that “could hardly be read” were excluded; the Court linked poor legibility to violation of the right to speedy disposition.
Re: Non-Compliance with the Efficient Use of Paper Rule, A.C. No. 11-9-4-SC (SC En Banc Resolutions, 2014-2023) – a series of administrative matters where lawyers were fined for using 12-pt fonts in briefs; although affidavits were not involved, the rulings illustrate the Court’s strictness.

7. Recommended drafting checklist

Choose the target forum first. Will the affidavit be submitted to court or only notarized?
Default to 14 pt if there is any chance it becomes a judicial annex.
Stick to Times New Roman (serif) or Arial (sans-serif); courts prefer them and most PDF generators embed them cleanly.
Keep paragraph indents uniform; avoid justified text that compresses spacing.
Leave at least 2-inch space at the bottom of the last page for the notarial certificate and stamp.
Use black text on white paper—colored text may scan poorly for e-filing.
If the declarant needs large print, go up to 16 pt and paginate carefully.
Before printing, preview on “print-to-PDF” at 100 % zoom; if your eyes strain on screen, a judge’s will too.

8. Frequently asked questions

Question	Short answer
Can I use Calibri 11 pt like in MS Word defaults?	Acceptable for many notaries, but risky for court filings because Calibri at 11 pt is smaller than 14 pt Times New Roman by pixel height.
Does the E-Court system reject PDFs with 12 pt text?	The system itself will upload the file, but the clerk will flag non-compliance and may direct re-filing within five days.
Will an affidavit be void if printed on letter-size paper?	No, the oath remains valid. Size affects only admissibility or procedural acceptance, not the truth of the statements.
Are there government forms that override all these tips?	Yes—use the font embedded in BIR eFPS, SEC E-GIS, DFA Personal Appearance Affidavits, etc. Never re-format official templates.

9. Key take-away

Because the Philippines has no affidavit-specific font statute, lawyers and laypersons should mirror the 14-point standard of the Efficient Use of Paper Rule whenever the document might interact with a court. For purely notarized instruments, 12 pt serif or 11 pt sans-serif remains widespread practice, but always confirm if the receiving agency has its own template. Readability, not formalistic exactness, is the ultimate legal yardstick.