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The Most Popular Types of Notarizations


— September 22, 2021

There are some instances when the person filing for a notary will need to do a verbal oath or affirmation in order to make the attestation stronger.


It is always important for anyone going in for a notary to have a good understanding of the differences between the most applied for notarial acts so they can carry out their obligations correctly. Here are some of the most popularly appealed notarizations.

Acknowledgments

The aim of an acknowledgment is to make sure that the signer of the document is who they actually are and the documents were signed under willful conditions. Acknowledgments are always required for documents that have to do with important property like deeds, mortgages, and even deeds of trust.

To carry out a notary acknowledgment, the signer must appear in person during the notarization process in order to declare or acknowledge that, the signature on the document was done voluntarily.

Though it is a normal practice for the client to sign a document in person for the notarization, it is not really essential as the client can always sign the document before bringing it to the lawyer and as well acknowledge that the signature on the document is actually theirs. Follow these remote online notary procedures to have a quick clue on notary requirements.

Jurats

The aim of a jurat notary is for the signer to affirm that they are aware of the contents of a document and how true the content is. Depending on the type of jurisdiction, it can equally be referred to as an affidavit.

The signer has to be present to sign the document while administering an affirmation or take an oath that all the statements in the document are true. The signer can decide between taking an oath or an affirmation. The affirmation is needed in case there are false statements in the document and remote online notary can quickly cover all notary requests.

Oaths/Affirmations

There are some instances when the person filing for a notary will need to do a verbal oath or affirmation in order to make the attestation stronger.

Copy Certification

Copy certifications are all about affirming the replication of an original document and that it is an actual duplicate of the original document. Documents that can be possibly copy certified always include: driver’s licenses, rental property agreements, contracts, bills, medical records, and even social security cards.

Man in blue dress shirt writing on paperwork; image by Helloquence, via Unsplash.com.
Image by Helloquence, via Unsplash.com.

The copy for the certification is always in possession of the document custodian and the person in possession of the document is the one to take the original document to a notary. The notary generally will make the extra copy of the document and a copy certification which is meant to affirm that the photocopy is original and contains all the details of the original document. Always make sure the copy certification aligns with state guidelines to avoid any mistakes.

Signature witnessing

There are some states that give notaries the authorization of performing signature witnessing. With the notarial act, the signer can certify that they are who they claim to be and that the signature on the document is truly theirs.

The major distinction between a signature witnessing and an acknowledgment is that the person witnesses the document during the process of signing. Meanwhile, the major disparity between a signature witnessing and a jurat, affidavit, or oath-taking or affirmation is that, with a signature witnessing, an oath is not necessarily taken.

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