May a Notary Public determine which type of Notarial certificate should be attached to a document?
No. A notary public who is not an attorney should only complete a notarial certificate which is already on the document or type a certificate of the maker’s choosing. If a notary public is brought a document without a certificate and decides which certificate to attach, that notary public would be “practicing law”. However, a notary public is provided copies of sample notarial certificates with his or her notary commission. The person for whom the notarization is performed may choose the certificate, and the notary may add such certificate to the document.
No. A Notary Public who is not an attorney should only complete a notarial certificate which is already on the document or type a certificate of the maker’s choosing. If a notary public is brought a document without a certificate and decides which certificate to attach, that notary public would be “practicing law.” However, a notary public is provided copies of sample notarial ertificates with his or her notary commission. A person for whom a notarization is performed may choose the notarial certificate, and the notary may add such certificate to the document.
Reply by Gerry_VT on 3/13/07 1:24pm Msg #179709 Re: Creating notary block not UPL – Here’s my logic… I read the quote provided by BrendaTx as providing one legal course of action if a signer presents a document with no notary block: let the signer choose one of the certficates from the state’s notary handbook. That would be a wise course of action, but the quote does not claim that is the only legal course of action. The quote states it qould be practicing law for the notary to decide which certificate to attach, but the question being answerd asks “May a notary public determine which TYPE of notarial certificate should be attached . . . ?” So the quote could be read as meaning the signer should choose the TYPE (acknowledgement vs. jurat) but the notary can create the wording, or it can be read as the signer must choose both the TYPE and the wording. I think the Texas Secretary of State should revise the web page to make it clear which reading is intended.
No. A notary public who is not an attorney should only complete a notarial certificate which is already on the document, or type or attach a certificate of the maker’s choosing. If a notary public were presented with a document that did not contain a certificate and decided which certificate to attach, that notary public would be “practicing law.” Instead, the notary may allow the person for whom the notarization is performed to choose among the sample certificates provided to the notary with the notary’s commission.
Related Questions
- I have been presented a document without any notarial wording. Should I decide what type of notarial certificate belongs on the document?
- May a Notary Public determine which type of Notarial certificate should be attached to a document?
- May a Notary determine which type of Notarial Certificate should be attached?
