Non-Military Affidavit Form: DMDC Search, Signing, and Filing

A non-military affidavit is a sworn statement you file with the court, before a judge will enter a default judgment, confirming whether the defendant who failed to respond is on active military duty. Federal law requires it in every civil case in every state and federal court, and the requirement comes from the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act at 50 U.S.C. § 3931.¹ Skip it, or get it wrong, and the judgment you win today can be unwound months or years later.

When You Have to File One

Three conditions trigger the requirement: you filed a civil lawsuit, the defendant never responded, and you’re now asking the court for a default judgment. The affidavit has to state one of three things about the defendant: that they are in military service, that they are not, or that you could not determine their status despite a reasonable search.¹ Without it, no default judgment.

This applies to any civil proceeding where the defendant doesn’t appear: divorce, child custody, debt collection, landlord-tenant evictions, and ordinary contract or tort cases. The point of the rule is that a defendant deployed overseas or stationed at a remote base shouldn’t lose by default because they physically couldn’t get to a courtroom. Proving you checked is your job as the plaintiff.

Run the DMDC Search First

The affidavit is only as good as the verification behind it, so start with the Defense Manpower Data Center. The official website is at scra.dmdc.osd.mil, and you’ll need a free account to run a search.² The site offers a Single Record Request for one person or a Multiple Record Request for several individuals or several dates for the same person.

You’ll need the defendant’s full legal name plus either their Social Security number or date of birth. Having both the SSN and the date of birth produces the most reliable result and avoids false matches with common names. The system checks the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) and returns a certificate showing whether the person is on active duty, has left active duty within the past 367 days, or has no record of service.²

Save and print the certificate the moment the result comes back. Most courts want it attached to the affidavit. Note the exact date you ran it, because courts expect the check to be recent relative to your filing. There’s no single federal freshness rule, but many local courts want the certificate no more than 30 days old. If you’re unsure, check your court’s local rules or call the clerk.

One coverage note worth understanding before you rely on the result: the DMDC database reflects active-duty status across all six armed forces, commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and NOAA on active service, and National Guard or Reserve members serving on qualifying federal orders.³ A Guard member activated by a state governor for a state-only mission without federal funding is not in “military service” under the SCRA and won’t appear as active in the certificate.

Filling Out the Form

Get the actual form from your court clerk or the state judicial council’s website. Some courts have a preprinted template; others accept a general-purpose affidavit as long as it contains the required information. Either way, it needs to include:

Your full legal name, address, and your role in the case (plaintiff or plaintiff’s attorney).
The defendant’s full legal name, exactly as it appears in the court file.
The case number assigned when you filed suit.
A clear statement of the defendant’s military status: not in military service, in military service, or unable to determine.
A description of how you verified the status, including the date you searched the DMDC database and the result.

Accuracy matters more than most people realize. Transcribe the defendant’s name so it matches both the court documents and the DMDC certificate. If the search came back with no record and you have no other reason to believe the defendant is in the military, check “not in military service.” If the search was inconclusive, or you didn’t have enough identifying information to run it, check “unable to determine” and explain why in plain language.

Signing: Notary or Unsworn Declaration

You have two ways to execute the document. The traditional route is a sworn affidavit signed before a notary public: you present valid ID, take the oath, and sign in the notary’s presence. Many state court forms are built around this and include a notary block at the bottom. Notary fees for a single signature generally run between $2 and $25 depending on the state.

Federal law also gives you an alternative. Under 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4), the requirement can be satisfied by a written statement, declaration, verification, or certificate that you sign and declare to be true under penalty of perjury.⁴ In jurisdictions that accept unsworn declarations under 28 U.S.C. § 1746, you may not need a notary at all. Many state courts still require notarization as a matter of local practice, so if the form has a notary block, use it.

Filing With the Court

Submit the signed affidavit together with the printed DMDC certificate to the clerk’s office. Depending on the court, that’s in person, by mail, or through the electronic filing system. The affidavit rides with your motion for default judgment rather than filing as a standalone document, so it goes into the packet with the rest of your default paperwork.

There’s usually no separate fee for the affidavit itself. Whatever the court charges for the default judgment motion, if anything, is the fee you’ll pay. Check the court’s fee schedule for the motion rather than looking for a line item on the affidavit.

What the Judge Does Next

The court’s response depends entirely on which of the three answers your affidavit gives.

Not in Military Service

If the DMDC certificate confirms no active-duty status and nothing else suggests the defendant is serving, the court can proceed to enter the default judgment. This is the outcome most plaintiffs are working toward.

In Military Service

If the search shows the defendant is on active duty, the court cannot enter judgment until it appoints an attorney to represent the absent servicemember.¹ The court also has to grant at least a 90-day stay if it finds the servicemember may have a defense that can’t be presented without their participation, and it can extend that stay in additional 90-day increments.

Unable to Determine

If you couldn’t verify the status, the court may require you to post a bond before entering judgment. The judge sets the amount, and the bond covers losses the defendant might suffer if they later turn out to be a servicemember and get the judgment reopened.⁵ The court can also appoint counsel, hold a hearing, or take other steps to protect the defendant’s rights before proceeding.

Penalties for a False Affidavit

Filing this document with information you know to be false is a federal crime. Under 50 U.S.C. § 3931(c), anyone who makes or uses a false affidavit, declaration, or certificate of military status faces a fine under Title 18, imprisonment for up to one year, or both.¹ The criminal exposure is bad enough on its own, and a false affidavit also gives the defendant a straightforward path to unwind whatever judgment was entered.

How a Sloppy Affidavit Comes Back

A servicemember who had a default judgment entered against them during military service or within 60 days after discharge can apply to reopen it. They have to show two things: that military service materially affected their ability to defend the case, and that they have a legitimate defense to some or all of the claims.¹ The application has to be filed within 90 days after military service ends.

This is where cutting corners on the affidavit becomes expensive. If you filed without actually running the DMDC search, or if you ran it months before filing and the defendant activated in between, the reopening path is wide open. The statute says the court “shall” reopen the judgment when the servicemember meets both requirements. Money collected, property seized, and orders enforced under the original judgment can all be unwound. A fresh DMDC search close to your filing date, with the certificate attached to the affidavit, is the single best protection against that outcome.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments
2
SCRA. SCRA
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3911 – Definitions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments
5
United States Courts. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)