Dealing With Documents With Pre-Printed Notarial Certificates

When a document with a pre-printed notary certificate is brought to the attention of a notary, he/she understands two things:

The notary knows the types of the notarial act(s) they need to perform as intended by the person, company or the agency which prepared them and what facts they need to verify.

It is a written, signed, and sealed statement of the signer as witnessed by the signer, where and when they signed. Only a notary has the right to administer the completion of any notary act as written on the notarial certificate. For this, the latter purpose is more important when dealing with pre-printed notarial certificates.

What a notary must check:

One of the requirements of a notary, in this case, is checking the body of the document and becoming acquainted with the related information. The important thing to do is to go through the entire notarial certificate and understand the acts and the facts included in it. In some cases, the notary is only required to administer an oath to the signer indicating that what is written in the certificate is indeed true. In other cases, all they need is to witness when the signer admitted having willingly signed the certificate.

Additionally, the notary must also pay attention to how they identify the signer. The notarial certificate may have described the procedure of doing this. Others do not say anything about the identification of the signer. One more important thing to understand is the laws of your state. Be sure to check some phrases like “personally known’’ and “proven on the basis of satisfactory.’’ Such phrases will help you in using the correct identification method.

After the identification, the notary needs to understand what information they will enter in their journal through reviewing the document. They must proceed and record all these particulars before they request the signer to put a signature on it. After this, they need to compare the signature with the one on the signer’s identification card. Notaries are tasked to make sure that these two signatures are reasonably the same; otherwise, there is a red flag and the process must be canceled.

The next step is to amend the notarial certificate if there is a need. The crucial amendment includes the right venue and the date. The accuracy of all entries, including the wording, is paramount in this case. The right way to make corrections is to cross out the incorrect information with one line; the corrections must be neat and legible.

When dealing with a notarial certificate that has numerous genuine and factual corrections, the notary can substitute it with a new certificate. It must contain similar act(s) as the initial certificate and the signer has the same capacity to sign. A substitute can be handwritten and a rubber stamp included. Some notaries may include the wording “see the attached notarial certificate,’’ which is correct.

As the final stage of dealing with pre-printed notarial certificate comes, the notary will then proceed with any other ceremony if required by the act(s). When all is done accordingly, the notary will sign and seal the notarial certificate before handing it to the signer to go through it.

Coast2Coast Signings is a global signing service dedicated to providing the most convenient, efficient and professional signing services. Our goal is to provide our clients’ with excellent customer service, a knowledgeable staff, and the ability to find experienced notaries wherever and whenever they are needed. Our team is on staff 24/7 to fulfill any of your signing needs. With a combined 50 years of experience, our mission is to help fulfill our clients’ needs with the utmost respect and adaptability. Coast 2 Coast is the only signing company proficient in completing signings on a global scale, on any coast and in any country.