NOTARY PUBLIC: You May Rarely Need One, But When You Do, You Need to know what they do.

Because we rarely use a notary public, some people have a misconception of what a Notary Public does.  They often think that by putting their seal on a document, it is a declaration that the document or statement is true.  This is not the case.

 
Laws differ from state-to-state, but a notary public witnesses the signing of documents and insures to the best of their ability that the person signing the document is who they say they are.  The notary does this by asking for their driver’s license, passport, military ID, or other legal proof of identification.  (There are some exceptions to this rule if a person doesn’t have identification, but I’ll save that for another time.)

I am a notary for the State of California and have been for 15 years.  This morning I had two instances where I had to explain what a notary does.

 
The first one, I had two documents put in front of me, one of which had the notarial statement on it (a statement stating that the person came before me and signed the document), but there was no signature.

 
When I asked what the person was signing, they told me that they wanted me to notarize the trust document and the fact that the person had opened a bank account.

I explained that as a notary I didn’t notarize documents.  I only notarize signatures and I had to have the person sign a document in front of me and show me identification before I could notarize anything. 

 
Eventually we straightened out what they needed to sign and have me notarize.

 
The next person came in with identification for another person and wanted me to notarize another person’s signature.  I explained that I couldn’t notarize anyone’s signature without having him or her present.  The person stated that because of illness, that would not be possible.  The only other alternative is for a notary to travel to where the person is if they are too sick to come to the notary.

 
There was another instance of a long time acquaintance.  She had remarried, but hadn’t gotten her name changed on any of her documents so she had no identification.  Because I knew her personally, I could document that fact and I could notarize her signature.

 
There have been instances when someone asked me to “notarize” other things which I can’t notarize, most notably birth certificates or marriage licenses from other countries.  It is difficult to explain to a person that as sorry as I am about their dilemma, it is against the law for me to notarize certain documents.  Not only do I put my notary privileges in jeopardy, but I also open myself up to massive lawsuits.

 
When you have something to notarize, call the notary in advance.  First, to make sure they will be available when you need them, that it is something they can notarize, and what documentation you need to show the notary.