Does a document have to be signed in the notarys presence?
The answer depends upon the type of notarization being performed. All notarizations fall into one of two basic categories: acknowledgments and jurats. (Not to worry; you don’t have to know which is which; that’s part of the notary’s job.) Documents requiring an acknowledgment do not have to be signed in the notary’s presence. However, the signer must appear before the notary at the time of the notarization to acknowledge that he or she freely signed for the purposes stated in the document, and must sign the notary’s official journal (the “journal of notarial acts”). An acknowledgment certificate indicates that the signer personally appeared before the notary, was identified by the notary, and acknowledged to the notary that the document was freely signed. On the other hand, documents requiring a jurat must indeed be signed in the notary’s presence, as indicated by typical jurat wording: “…subscribed (signed) and sworn to before me…” In executing a jurat, a notary guarantees that th
