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Notarial Certificates

Notarial Certificates

All notarial acts must be evidenced by a notarial certificate. The notarial certificate wording indicates exactly what the notary public has certified. The certificate wording may appear on the document itself, or it may be attached to the document. It is never acceptable to place one’s signature and seal on a document without any notarial language. The notarial certificate should contain:

  1. A venue indicating where the notarization is being performed. “State of New York, County of ___” is the typical venue wording.
  2. A statement that indicates what the notarization has attested to. For example, an acknowledgment certificate might include the wording “personally appeared,” whereas a jurat certificate might include the wording “subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed).”
  3. The date of the notarization.
  4. The notary public’s signature.
  5. The notary public’s commission information. Since a seal is not required by the state of New York, a notary public must print, typewrite, or stamp the following below the notary’s signature in black ink:
    • The notary’s name
    • “Notary Public State of New York”
    • The name of the county where the notary originally qualified for their commission
    • The notary’s commission expiration date
    • When required, the name of the county in which the notary’s certificate of official character is filed, using the words, “Certificate filed … County.”

Correcting a Certificate

When completing the certificate, the notary public needs to make sure that any preprinted information is accurate.

For example, the venue – the state and the county in which the notarial act is taking place – may have been filled in prior to the notarization. If the preprinted venue is incorrect, the notary public must make a line through the incorrect state and/or county, write the proper site of the notarization, and initial and date the change.

Certificate Forms

If the certificate wording is not preprinted on the document, or if the preprinted wording is not acceptable, the notary public may attach a certificate form. The certificate form is typically stapled to the left margin of the document, following the signature page.

If the certificate form is replacing unacceptable preprinted wording, the notary public should make a line through the unacceptable wording and write below it, “See attached certificate.”

To prevent a notarial certificate from being removed and fraudulently placed on a different document, the notary public may add a brief description of the document to the certificate, such as: “This certificate is attached to a (title or type of document), dated (date), of (number) pages, signed by (name or names of signers).”

Whenever a notary public attaches a certificate form to a document, they should always make a note in their journal that they did so, as well as record the means by which they attached the certificate. For example, “Certificate form stapled to the document, following signature page.”

Completing the Notarial Certificate

When filling in the blanks in the notarial certificate, the notary should type or print neatly in dark ink.

Never Pre-Sign or Pre-Seal Notarial Certificates

A notary public must never sign or seal a notarial certificate ahead of the notarization, or allow other people to attach loose notarial certificate to documents.

A notary public should never give or mail an unattached, signed, and sealed certificate form to anyone.

These actions could help to facilitate fraud or forgery, and could subject the notary public to lawsuits to recover damages resulting from the notary’s neglect or misconduct.

Selecting the Notarial Certificate

It is not the role of the notary to decide what type of certificate, or what type of notarization a document needs. Notaries public do not issue instructions or decide which forms are appropriate in a given case.

If a document is presented to a notary public without certificate wording, or if the signer doesn’t know what type of notarization the document needs, the notary should direct the signer to find out what type of notarization and certificate are needed. Usually, the agency which issued the document or the one that will be receiving the document can provide this information.

False Notarial Certificates

A notary public who completes a false notarial certificate with intent to defraud, deceive, or injure another person may be guilty of forgery in the second degree, a Class D felony, or a Class E felony.

Placement of the Notary Seal

The notary public’s seal should be affixed near the notary’s signature on the notarial certificate. Whenever possible, the notary public should avoid affixing the seal over any text on the document or the certificate. Some recorders will reject documents if the document text intrudes within the borders of the notary seal. If there is no room for the required stamp information, the notary may complete and attach a certificate that duplicates the notarial wording on the document.

If an initial seal impression is unreadable, another seal impression can be affixed nearby. The illegibility of the first impression will indicate why the second impression was required. The notary should then record in their journal that a second impression was applied.

A notary public should never attempt to fix an imperfect seal impression with a pen, ink, or correction fluid. This may be viewed as evidence of tampering, and may cause the document to be rejected by the agency receiving the document.