What is a Notarial Certificate?
What is a “Notarial Certificate”?
Published October 18, 2024
With every notarization of a person’s signature, a notary public must fill out, sign and seal their official statement, somewhere near the document signer’s signature, that describes the facts of the notarial act the notary performed. This statement is the “notarial certificate.”
The average person doesn’t realize the significance of the notarial certificate’s words… many think that the notary’s signature and stamp/seal alone are enough to make a notarization “official.” But a notarial certificate is always required when a signature on a document is notarized.
A notary’s signed and sealed/stamped notarial certificate provides information that is very important to the parties relying on the notarized document. For example, a notary cannot sign and seal/stamp a notarial certificate unless all the steps and formalities of notarizing were performed. Thus, a document’s completed notarial certificate assures relying parties that the person named as the document signer did appear before the notary, was properly identified, willingly signed the document, and understood the consequences of signing. Depending on the type of notarial act, persons whose signatures require notarization will sign a document of their own free will, and swear (or affirm) that the contents of the document are true.
The wording of notarial certificates differs somewhat depending on the notary’s state where they are commissioned. The wording also varies depending on the specific notarial act performed. But no matter where in America a document is notarized by a duly commissioned, U.S. notary public, the notary’s act will be given its proper legal recognition across state borders—thanks to a properly completed notarial certificate.
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