If you notarize something incorrectly, the notarized documents may get rejected. It could lead to financial loss such as late fees or penalties to the signers. You may also get penalized by the state regulator for the negligence, being sued by the claimant, and lose your hard-earned reputation in the notary business. If the date is incorrect in the notary certificate you would just line through it, enter the correct date and initial the correction.
If the signer has left your presence, the signer must reappear before you and you must perform a new notarization. Does a Notarized Document Expire? The notarization of a document does not expire. If the date shown on the seal used in notarization is valid, so is the document. This means that as long as the notary notarizes a document before their commission expires, the notarization is valid.
Skip to content. Notary Tips. By Clay Mason. Using White-Out Using white-out is a great way to rectify clerical errors on various types of documents, but it should never be used when performing notarial services. Illegible Notary Seal Another all-too-common mistake made by notaries is stamping the document with an illegible notary seal.
Empty Fields Notary Certificate The notary certificate contains a jurat that must be completed. If you have to get a document notarized, you probably have a lot of questions. For example, you might be curious about a notarized document legally validity.
Is there an expiration date when it comes to a notarized document? How long is a notarized document valid? If you would like to learn more about notarized documents, you might also be wondering, how long is a notary good for? Take a look at some important information below, and make sure you are clear about the requirements regarding a notarized document. If you have an important legal proceeding coming up, or if you are making an important financial transaction, you may be required to get your documents notarized.
What this means is that you have gone through additional steps to deter the possibility of fraud. If you go to the notary process, you are going to fill out these documents in the presence of someone called a notary public.
A notary public is responsible for authenticating the validity of the document that has been signed. The notary public might be responsible for making sure the document has been filled properly. The notary will also make sure that everyone involved in the process understands what they are signing.
Finally, the notary will also verify the identities of the individuals involved. All of this is important for making sure people are entering into a major transaction or legal process of their own free will and volition.
The notarization seal should not expire. When the notary public stamps the document, an expiration date is going to be present on the seal. In a situation where there is no way to affix your Notary seal without obscuring text on the document, one option would be to complete and attach a certificate form with the appropriate notarial wording that includes sufficient room for the seal.
Before proceeding, the signer should contact the receiving agency to confirm if an attached certificate form is acceptable or if the receiving agency has other instructions. I have two stamps. One large round one when there is lots of room and a very small rectangular pocket stamp where space is limited.
I always find a space. Regarding bonus mistake: I don't include the words notary public if they are preprinted on the form. Is this correct? I've just been using "Notary. Am I out of compliance here in California? Hello Mardi. As a precaution against possible document rejection, we recommend writing the full "Notary Public" title when completing the certificate.
Re: stamp seal here, I just stamp elsewhere on the doc, as long as it is below or next to my signature or attach my separate jurats or acknowledgement and have never had any issues. I'm in Ca. My seal includes my full middle name, but for my signature I use only my middle initial. Is this a problem? Which should I use when I fill in my name?
The name you write on a notarial certificate must exactly match the name on your official Notary commission. Also, you must sign each notarial certificate with the signature that you filed with your commissioning official. I work in California and had a document rejected because I didn't have the words "Notary Public" after my name. I didn't know about this rule until then. Texas is notorious for putting Acknowledgements on documents with NO space to place the Seal.
It is their form and they make the rules, but they do not allow space for a proper acknowledgement with seal Pretty sure you been asked before regarding mistake 4 what about it if the document itself has been dated post date should I ask the principal to adjusted?
I notarize for a public agency. By far the most common mistake that I see on documents that end up being rejected by the County Recorder is that the other notaries did not list the name of the person on the acknowledgment exactly as it was signed on the document.
Sometimes a notary will leave off a middle initial or middle name and sometimes they will add it even though it isn't the way the person signed. Luckily, our County Recorder allows us to write in an "aka" below the person's signature line so that the acknowledgment matches the signature. A not so common misstate that I've seen is when the notary public uses one acknowledgment for two people and writes in "Jane and John Smith" instead of "Jane Smith and John Smith".
In AZ there is no requirement for the color of your stamp. I use a blue ink stamp for two reasons, 1 you can usually tell the original from a copy, and 2 if I stamp over "place stamp here" language you can still read the language in the stamp and the text underneath.
My second issue is with the blank lines in the certificate wording. I have noticed many notaries just insert the clients names which were already printed in the certificate wording before the blank lines instead of the witnesses names. You need to read the wording carefully to make sure you know not only who's name s belong on blank lines but also what signatures you are notarizing.
When the witnesses names are required to be filled in in the certificate you are also notarizing both witnesses signatures, not just the person identified in the document. It makes no sense at all to me that the title of the officer, "Notary Public," is not printed on the Acknowledgment form since it is required.
Why should we have to write "Notary Public" after our name when it is required? The notary laws are getting out of hand -- I am surprised there are any notaries at all. The laws are making it extremely difficult not to mention the liability imposed on notaries for all notaries. If it were not for my job, I would not be a notary. When I retire I will not renew my commission. I am a California notary and have been since The title Notary Public is not included on the certificate because in certain cases other officials such as clerks and judges, who are not notaries, are allowed to execute an acknowledgement.
Please be aware that certificate requirements vary from state to state. What is applicable in one state may not be appropriate for another. I made up a rubber stamp in red ink that says "This stamp attaches these documents together. My notary signature is just my first and last name but the name filed with the Commission is my first, middle and last.
They said this is fine. So it does not make sense to me your instructions to sign your name exactly as it is printed on your Notary commission. A signature is a signature and when I filed my bond and took my oath I asked them if I may omit my middle name and they said yes, so my official signature does not include my middle name.
Can you tell us what state you are commissioned in and what agency gave you those instructions, please? We are contesting a will in court. The notary signed and dated the will as did the person making the will as April 17th In her journal she recorded the same date when in actuality the notarization occurred on the 18th.
The notary made a "correction" in her journal after it was brought to her attention. Is this allowed and is the will likely to be thrown out of probate? We're sorry, but we cannot answer questions or provide advice regarding the legality of a will.
In order to help us answer your question about whether correcting a Notary's journal entry is permitted, can you please tell us what state you are in? I am a new North Carolina notary. When a certificate asks for my name to be printed below my signature, does the printed name in my seal cover this requirement? I am a first year Notary.
Most of the documents I have been notarizing have had an Acknowledgment attached as a last page. My habit is to stamp next to my signature on the Acknowledgment, but then to also place my stamp next to the signature that I am notarizing on the document.
Is there anything wrong with doing it this way? I feel better making it clear as to the particular signature that I'm notarizing. No, you should not affix your seal to multiple areas of a document-only in the appropriate area in the notarial certificate wording. Fantastic writing - I learned a lot from the analysis. Does someone know if my company could possibly obtain a blank CA WV version to complete? I'm down to one page of the California All-Purpose Acknowledgment.
Can I make a photocopies or only originals are accepted in California? As long as your certificate conforms to the wording and format required by California state law, you are fine. You can order certificates online from the NNA at www.
Can a notary notarize their own drafted document,and then the signature. The trust was drawn up by the notary and then notarized by the drafter, the lady was 92 diagnosed with psychosis, and had a Psych eval done 2days before she was confused did not know what a bed was it other answers to questions asked.
And then had another eval done 2 days later with no change, she signed twice the document and the final signature do not match this was done in a nursing home she was on 27 meds and had 28 diagnosises was thus a legal procedure.
Maybe it is just me but I recently did a notarization and it was the first time there was a blank for venue. I don't remember this from classes and I have been a notary since in California, although not extremely active. I did have the client check with the real estate company in Florida to determine what was required.
Is this fairly new? It is my belief that there should be access to refresher classes on a regular basis to take care of changes.
That has happened only once in my time as notary due to changes in the law. This article was so informative. I agree with the comment made earlier that it is getting very difficult to keep up with all the minute details that change.
I know a lot of it has to do with the housing collapse and the notary fraud but very difficult to keep up. How did you get in the first place your notary commission if you don't know this basic rules, specially not stamping over anything Can I fill acknowledgement form via computer instead of handwritten, and place seal and sign after print out if one person needs more then 1 sign to Notarize, just to save time.
We apologize, but we are not completely clear regarding the details of your question. Can you please tell us what state you are writing from, and also clarify if you are referring to printing out notarial wording from a saved file such as a Word document or PDF? Or are you referring to writing in an saving a signer's name and other information on an electronic document to print out later? What is the Civil Code citation in California which requires use of an Acknowledgement or Jurat with correct California notarial wording?
The prescribed jurat wording format is found under California Government Code I notarized a Living Trust document with several signatures and reading this article made me realize I didn't put "notary public" after my name on the acknowledgement on any of the pages I stamped. I normally do. Will this be a problem, do you recommend that I request to see those forms again to correct it so it is complete. Also, I think I might have placed a stamp upside down.
Please advise. Hello Susana. Although California Notaries may correct an error on a notarial certificate at the time of the notarial act, while the document signer is still in their presence, there are no provisions in the law that allow for the correction of a completed notarial act.
The CA Secretary of State's office has advised Notaries in their newsletter that if you discover an error in a notarial act after completing the act, then you must perform a new notarization on the document. My bank notary asked me to provide all the docs prior to notarizing, I refused as the signature page specifically showed it was a Limited POA. Is it legal for notaries to review the entire doc before notarizing? Legally, aren't they supposed to be authenticating my signature only?
As a general rule, Notaries are not permitted to notarize an incomplete document, Presenting a notary only with the signature page of a multi-page document could be considered incomplete. This could cause problems later because the Notary has no way of knowing if the notarial wording could be attached to a different set of pages in order to commit fraud after the notarization is completed.
To help us answer your question, can you tell us more details about the correction requested and what state you are commissioned in, please? If you have a new notary stamp and it blurs, can that be corrected with whiteout and then restamped correctly over it in Illinois? No, you should not attempt to fix a blurred seal impression with correction fluid. Instead, the signer should contact the receiving agency to ask if you can affix a second seal impression as close as possible to the original without obscuring any text or signatures.
To help us answer your question, can you please tell us what state the certificate is from and what notarial act the wording is for? State Of California. Someone comes in with a document to have notarized.
The document has no date. This okay to notarize? If yes, do you write the same date as being notarized on the certificate where it says document date and then record this in the journal in the section called document type? Also, CA law requires Notaries to record the date, time and type of notarization for each official act in the Notary journal.
When someone has me notarize for them, do they have to sign their entire name? I have had a few that state that they should be able to use their signature and I am there to affirm it's their signature by notarizing it. Hi Dori. The person may sign their name as they choose, but must provide the Notary with satisfactory proof of identity that verifies their use of that name.
For example, a recently wedded woman using the married name "Mary Smith" could not sign and have that name notarized using a driver's license with her maiden name "Mary Doe" as proof of identity before a Notary, because the name on the ID does not match the name being signed. Hello Veronica.
To help us answer your question, can you please tell us what state you are commissioned in and what type of notarization you are being asked to perform? I am a notary for a bail bond agency and they want me to notarize a Power of Attorney form.
Then under that there is a blank space I can add my seal but there isn't a signature line. The only line to be signed it an Executing Agent line, which I'm guessing is the bail bond agent, not myself and the line is far from the stamp. Where would I sign in this case? Hi Holly. You cannot simply affix your seal impression to a document without completing and signing the proper notarial wording. You should ask what type of notarization the agency is asking for such as acknowledgment or jurat.
Once they provide this information, you should attach and complete a certificate with the appropriate notarial wording for your state. Remember that as the Notary, you may not select what notarial act is needed on behalf of the signer.
I just had a document notorized. The notary attached a separate sheet with the notary info, stamp, etc.. But, there is no stamp on my original document.
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