09/18/2020
Do You Need a Notary?
No one realizes how much they depend on notaries until they need one or the services of a notary. Notaries provide a vital service in our society. Think about it, who else can they rely on to be a trusted professional that helps others and verify the facts? True, the person signing the document can willfully lie or misrepresent the truth, but there are perjury laws and penalties for that.
No one realizes how much they depend on notaries until they need one or the services of a notary. Notaries provide a vital service in our society. Think about it, who else can they rely on to be a trusted professional that helps others and verify the facts? True, the person signing the document can willfully lie or misrepresent the truth, but there are perjury laws and penalties for that. medical directive such as a DNR (Do Not Resituate) established and taking that heart-wrenching decision off your loved ones' mind or for your loved ones to follow and not decided someone you don’t know. Then the need for an impartial witness becomes the best option? So then, a NOTARY PUBLIC, becomes the most logical solution. Of course, Notaries can be depended upon do all those things.
Every day thousands of people are sanctioned by their state to join our profession to help others. State to state, notarial laws will differ. The notarial wording and certificates differ. Some notaries are tested to join the profession, others are not. Your state statues will determine that. Nevertheless, according to the National Notary Association, all “Notaries Public are commissioned by the state to serve the public as an official, impartial witness and to help prevent fraud, whereas, “Notarization is the official process that certifies what you’ve done as true. The Notary’s official signature and seal confirm his/her certification that signer swore that the document true.” It should be noted here, that some official documents notarized, the signature that appears on the document may not have been witnessed by the notary who notarized the document, but the notary can verify that the person who signed the document, notarized by that notary, was true and correct. (In a future post we will discuss affidavits, oaths, jurats and acknowledgment and the differences between them.) But let’s not get off track now.
Notaries are not perfect nor are they Attorneys, but some Attorneys are notaries and do add value to the profession. Therefore, it is part of your duty as a notary to screen the signer of documents you notarize. As Notaries publics, we can be ever vigilant; verify the facts (name, address, proof of identity, etc.) as it refers to the documents you apply your seal to. Notaries understanding of the basic requirement and golden rule of “Personal Appearance” during the notarial act (RON does not negate this practice, but rather enhances it.)
Finally, from accepting a request to notarize a document to completing the certificate, entering the notarial act into a journal, digital or wet ink, a notary must be cognizant of what he/she is doing. A notary public is a public official and must understand the importance of public trust when it comes to notarizing documents properly with care and vigilance. By law, a notary can refuse to sign a document only if he/she knows that the contents are false or misleading.
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*An acknowledgment is the only document that can be notarized by a notary without the notary being present, at the signing, however, the signer must be present at the time of the notarization to swear that the document is true and he/she signed it.
