We All Require A Notary At Some Point In Life.....

Your Document should contain the correct wording in the Notarial Certificate in order for a Notarial Act to be completed.

Preparation prior to speaking to your Notary saves time and is most valuable for us all.

Let's begin with some basics!

With that said, if you are not sure which Notarial Certificate, your document needs, then take a look at the following 6 different types of Notarial Certificates below.

Let us know if one of them fits your document.

NOTARIAL ACTS AND CERTIFICATES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Verification on Oath or Affirmation/(With Affiant)

Signature Witnessing or Attesting

• Ensures a Signer's Identity and Willingness to sign

• Compels a signer to swear/affirm that the contents of the document are true

• Signer may sign in front of the notary but is not required

• Signer must sign in front of notary and swear or affirm the facts contained within are true

• Document Types; Legal Documents

On this day before me, the undersigned Notary Public, personally appeared name(s) of signer(s) personally known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) whose name(s) is/are subscribed to the within instrument, and acknowledged to me that he/she/they executed the same for the purposes therein.

Language on Verification on Oath or Affirmation Certificate reads:

"Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me this day of month, year by Name of signer(s)."

Copy Certification

• Certifies a signer's identity and signature

• Document must be signed in front of notary

• No oath or affirmation

Signed or attested before me on ..........(date) by ....................(name(s) of person(s)).

• Certifies that a reproduced document is truth, exact and accurate to the original

• The original document must be present along with the copy

• Examples: Driver License, Diplomas, Leases, Contracts, Vehicle Titles, Social Security Cards, Medical Records, Bills of Sale, etc.

• Valid form of Identification of the Signer or Notary must be familiar with Signer

• Valid form of Identification of the Signer or Notary must be familiar with Signer

Individual Acknowledgement Certificate

• Does not recognize the signatures inscribed within the document

• Does not attest to the truthfulness of the contents of the document

• Certificate serves as proof that the signatures contained within the document are legitimate and signer was not under coercion.

• Signer(s) must sign in front of the notary with valid form of Identification or can be personally Id by notary

• Valid form of Identification of the Signer or Notary must be familiar with Signer

• Individual is signing and acknowledging on his/her own behalf

Representative Acknowledgement

• Documents that have been signed by someone in the capacity of representative such as: officer, trustee, agent, personal representative, etc.

This instrument was acknowledged before me on ..........(date) by ....................(name(s) of person(s)) as ........................................(type of authority, e.g., officer, trustee, etc.) of ............................. .................(name of party on behalf of whom the instrument was executed).

Language on Verification on Oath or Affirmation/(With Affiant) Certificate reads:

Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed)before me this day of month, year by Name of Signer(s)

* This certificate has either a document attached to it or signer(s) sign on one of the 7 lines provided)

On this day, I certify that the attached or preceding document of _____ pages is a true, exact, complete and unaltered copy of (description of Original Document) presented to me by Original Document's Custodian on Above Date and that, to the best of my knowledge, the original document is neither a public record nor a publicly recordable instrument, certified copies of which are available from an official source other than a Notary Public or an official notarial record in my possession.

• Both types of Acknowledgements, Individual and Representative Certificates are used when notarizing legal documents such as: Trusts, Agreements, Powers of Attorney(s), Deeds, and more....

See:

www.notaryacknowledgement.com

Or your state statues

For Minnesota see:

Statues Chapters 357 - 359

Want to know more about:

Notarial Acts?

State-Specific Certification Wording?

or

Need to Create a Certificate?

• impartial witnesses who verify the identity of the parties who are signing legal documents

• commissioned by the Governor and their commission status can be found on the secretary of state's website

• not commissioned to make claims that the contents of your documents are true or false (that is not our purpose)

• forbidden by law, to provide legal advice or counsel

• Used when a document is time sensitive

• Witnessing a signature be be used in circumstances where the date of the signing is of crucial importance.

• Used to determine that the signature appearing on the document is that of the person appearing before the Notary and named in the document

Language on Individual Acknowledgement Certificate reads:

Language on Representative Acknowledgement Certificate reads:

Can't find the one your document requires?

Sometimes Notaries act in the capacity of an Authorized Representative for forms like I-9s. We can help with your document.

• forbidden by law, from selecting which notarial certificate is best for your document

Language on Signature Witnessing or Attesting Certificate reads:

Language on Copy Certification Certificate reads: